Into the Unknown
by AJane923
Summary: Two sets of triplets are lured into the world of vampires- a world of unknown. Alexandra, Samantha, and Johanna are city girls with a dark side. Athena, Artemis, and Aphrodite are native to Europe and move to Volterra. What will happen? READ TO FIND OUT!
1. Chapter 1

**This is my second story. I made this with my friend Michelle and her sister Melody (she requests to be called "Moldy Melon"). My first story is called "My Very Frustrating Life." Review!!! I'll continue if I get three reviews.**

**Disclaimer: I only own the characters that you don't know.**

**Meet Alex, Sam, and Jo**

_Alex POV: New York City, New York_

_  
_ My name is Alexandra, but everybody calls me Alex. I am one of three triplets. My sisters are Samantha and Johanna, but everyone calls them Sam and Jo. We are nonidentical, but we can still tell what each other is thinking.

I have shoulder-length dark brown hair that is always shiny and perfect, and emerald green eyes. Sam has short blond curls and sparkling, strange amethyst-purple eyes, and Jo has extremely long, wavy, light brown hair and dark, sapphire-blue eyes.

Mother, father, and almost everyone we know calls us the "jewel sisters" because of our jewel-like eyes and our beautiful but cold appearances. My sisters and I are inhumanly beautiful, in our own ways, and we turn heads everywhere we go. I am told that I seem like the carefree beauty, Sam is supermodel-like, and Jo seems like the innocent cutie.

As if. Under my carefree, cheerful appearance, I am ruthless and always craving a good fight. Sam seems like the dumb blonde, but I know that she is the most cold, calculating, and conniving person that I have met- and will probably ever meet. And as for Jo, let's just say that she's our database for information. Basically, she's the reason we can do everything that we do.

Sam, Jo, and I each have a quality that makes us different from all other humans, besides our beauty. I can… imitate others' abilities. For example, if you were an awesome artist, I would be able to mimic your artistic ability and be able to draw and paint just as well as you could. However, I cannot take away your ability. That's Sam's ability.

Sam can turn you from a world-wide competition-winning artist into someone who can't draw a straight line. She will just take away your ability to draw. However, she can't use your ability like I can.

Jo is different from us. She can, well, know things. As in she can take a look at a complete stranger and know everything about him/her, from his/her favorite food to his/her deepest, darkest secrets. Jo is the one who tells us everything we need to know before a "mission."

* * *

"Alex!" A voice calls. "Alex! Wake up!"

I open my eyes to see a pair of dark blue eyes inches away from my face.

"Ahhh!" I yell. "Geez, Jo! Give me a break!"

Jo smiles and twirls a strand of her silky brown hair around her finger. She throws my clothes at me and walks out of my room. Sam's head pops into my room.

"Come on, Alex!" She says. "Hurry up!"

Groaning, I step out of my bed, still half-asleep. I walk into my personal bathroom and splash cold water onto my face. Instantly, I'm awake. I peer at myself in the mirror. Even though I have bags under my eyes and my hair is disheveled, I manage to look gorgeous, if I may say so myself.

In five quick minutes, my clothes are on, my hair is perfectly straight and smooth, and the bags under my eyes are gone. Sam barges into my green-themed room and sits on my bed.

"What do you want, Sam?" I ask, tired.

Sam studies my face for any blemishes, and then looks at my clothes.

"Perfect," She declares. "We're ready to go."

I roll my eyes and put on my slippers. Jo bursts into the room and sits next to Sam. She smiles deviously at me and flips her chocolate-y hair. Sam grins smugly at me.

"Did you guys ever hear of _knocking_?" I yell. "Apparently not."

"Well, whatever," Jo shrugs. "Mom wants us down. She's going to announce our vacation spot."

Every year, my family went somewhere foreign, and this year, mom and dad decided to keep it a secret until the day of the plane ride.

I picked up my already-ready carry-on bag and dragged my light green suitcase behind me. Sam had matching lavender suitcases, and Jo had blue ones.

As soon as we were on the ground floor, mom and dad hugged us and said simultaneously,

"We're going to Volterra, Italy!"

_

* * *

Artemis POV: Athens, Greece_

My name is Artemis. I am one of three almost-identical triplets. My sister Athena is almost a complete copy of me, except she has curly hair, when I have straight hair. Athena (or Ena) has bright, all-knowing grey eyes, and I have dark, almost black eyes. Our other sister, Aphrodite, is completely different from us. She has golden blond hair and blue eyes.

Ena and I call Aphrodite Afro, and Aphrodite hates it. She is a bit stuck up. By a bit, I mean _a lot_. Ena is the smart one and I… I'm the prankster. Ena and I both have strange powers. I can control and call animals, while Ena _always_ knows what to do in any situation.

* * *

"No!" I hear Aphrodite screaming on the ground floor. 'No! You can't do this!"

Ena's head pokes through the crack between my door and the doorframe. She motions for me to come. I follow her downstairs to where Afro was yelling at our parents.

"You can't!" Afro was screaming.

Aphrodite's normally perfect hair has tangled and messy, her eyes were red and teary, and she was on her knees. Even so, she manages to look beautiful.

Ena flips her phone open to check the time.

"What's up?" Ena asks casually.

Afro glares at her for a second, and then goes back to bawling her eyes out. This must be serious.

"Yeah, what's going on?" I ask cautiously.

"Well," Dad looks nervous. "Your mom and I are… getting divorced."

"WHAT?!" Ena and I scream at the same time.

Ena drops her brand new phone and it breaks into a million tiny pieces on the ground. If I were her, I would do the same thing.

Mom's thick Italian accent soothes us. Mom is Italian, but dad is Greek.

"Yes, my jewels, _mio gioellos_, we are getting divorced. You will come and live with me in Volterra, but you are allowed to visit your father here in Greece," Mom said.

For the next hour, Ena, Afro and I beg mom and dad to stay together here in Athens, our hometown, but they refuse to stay together.

Finally, we agree to go. Mom tells us to go to our rooms and start packing. This is going to be a long week.

_Yay! Chapter one is finito! REVIEW, please. Sorry if I got the Italian part wrong; I'm not Italian. It was supposed to say 'my jewels'. Alex is ruthless and doesn't care much for plans, Sam is deceiving and tricky, and Jo is the one who lies to others for information. Ena is smart, Arty is the triplet with common sense, and Afro (heehee) is the stuck up girl._


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, it's me again! Are you ready for chapter two? I thought that I should either write a separate chapter for each POV after the first chapter, but I decided to fit both POV's in one chapter. YAY! I decided to write chapter two anyway, so here goes nothing!**

**Disclaimer: I only own the characters that you don't know.**

**Welcome to Volterra**

_Alex POV: Volterra, Italy_

The plane ride was awful! It took about five hours to get to Italy, and then an hour's drive to Volterra.

"Finally! We're here!" Jo exclaims.

"My thoughts exactly," I reply coolly.

Volterra is nothing like I thought it was like. I pictured a modern, upscale city. Instead, Volterra is a large town with peach-colored stone walls and bright fountains everywhere.

"It's so bright!" Sam exclaims, shielding her face.

I agree. The sun is blinding where I am standing. I see the town plaza, a clock tower, a castle, and a large fountain.

"This way, girls!" Mom leads the way.

Dad, Sam, Jo, and I follow Mom down a large cobblestone street carrying our suitcases. Mom looks down at her sheet of paper to check the address one last time, and then looks up.

"This is it, guys!" Mom exclaims. We look up to see a huge, possibly twenty-story hotel made of the same peach-colored stone as all the other buildings.

Many of those fancy brass luggage carts are being pulled around. My family and I step into the large hotel and relax. An attendant takes our luggage and brings it to our room.

"This is my kind of place," Sam says while staring bug-eyed at the intricate designs in the ceiling of the hotel and smiling toothily.

"Agreed," Jo says.

Mom and Dad take the room keys from the front desk and we pile into the elevator. Jo nervously twirls a lock of her hair around her finger. She keeps glancing at me from the wide. What's going on?

As soon as we step into the suite, Sam, Jo, and I nearly faint. It is so large and comfy!

Immediately, I run into a random bedroom and fall on the bed. I feel like I am resting on a cloud or a huge marshmallow.

Sam giggles and runs into the room beside mine. A connecting door keeps us together. Jo runs into the one on the other side of my room. I get up and start to unpack. Dad's head pops into my room.

"Alex, your mom and I are going to scope out the city. I already told Sam and Jo. Is it alright if you stay in the suite alone?" He asks.

"Of course!" I exclaim. "Dad, we're fourteen!"

Dad sighs and leaves my room. I hear the main door closing as he and mom set off to the center of Volterra.

"Come on, Sam!" I yell. "Jo!"

Sam and Jo come out of their rooms. Sam smiles.

"Do you guys want any food?" Sam holds up a menu. "Room service is cheap and awesome here!"

For the next five minutes, we decide on what to eat.

I finally choose a chicken burger, Sam picks some salad, and Jo orders some pasta. As we wait for the food to arrive, I stare out the window.

Mom and Dad are walking hand in hand down the quaint little street on the side. They aren't too far from the hotel, still. I see a tall, model-like lady approach them.

The lady has pale skin and tight clothes. She stands in the shadows. She talks to Mom and Dad for a second, and they nod their heads excitedly. The lady smiles warmly at them.

Suddenly, she turns around. I see her eye color. They are startlingly violet. Not like Sam's natural purple, but more like a direct mixture of bright red and blue. I gasp before turning around.

_

* * *

Artemis POV: Volterra, Italy_

We are in Mom's new van, cruising along the strange cobblestone streets of our new home, Volterra. Everything here is a strange caramel-like color. The moving truck has already arrived at our new house.

Mom parks the car and Ena, Afro and I silently climb out. Afro is checking her reflection in one of the fifteen pocket mirrors she carries in our purse.

I constantly tell Afro that it's silly to carry a purse; we're only fourteen! Afro always looks at me cluelessly when I say this. Sometimes I really think that having a strange power could really help Afro.

Sadly, the only thing Afro has is her mystical beauty. She could be covered in mud and still look more beautiful than any supermodel in the world.

I look across the busy street and see a huge hotel. The sign reads, _Il Dorato Albergo_.

"Mom!" I ask. "What does _Il Dorato Albergo_ mean?"

Mom smiles at me while Ena looks at her inquisitively. Afro looks around, bored.

"That means, 'The Golden Hotel'," Mom explains. "It's the most expensive hotel in town, and it's five-star. Only the rich tourists stay in there."

"Oh," I say.

Mom walks to the door and says,

"Welcome home!"

Our new home is huge, bigger than most houses I've seen before. It is made of the same peachy stone as every other building in the town, but has a flower bed in the front and a large garden in the back.

Mom opens the door to our house and we step in. The house is even better on the inside! Unlike most new houses, this house doesn't smell like paint- it smells homey.

Afro immediately plops down in a sofa that's been brought in and begins texting to her old friends back in Athens. I sigh.

"Why can't we go to that fancy hotel across the street?" Afro whines suddenly.

Mom frowns. "It's very expensive and we already have a house here!"

"Well yeah," Ena says matter-of-factly. "But since the movers are going to be here all day, maybe we could go to that hotel for just a day!"

"Of course!" I add in. "It's not like we can even stay in our house tonight. Why don't we go for just a day?"

Mom looks uncertain, but I know that we've won this battle. "All right, but only for one night."

Ena, Afro and I smile radiantly at her and quickly get up and move towards the door.

As we walk outside, a beautiful but pale woman approaches us. She has dirty blond hair and perfect features. She rivals Afro in looks. The lady has tight clothes that fit her just right.

"My name is Heidi," The lady says. Her voice entrances me. "You must be tourists from other parts of Europe."

Mom frowns. "Actually, we're from Athens, although I am native to Volterra. I lived here about ten years ago."

"Oh," Heidi says, her smile vanishing. "Then welcome back. I am your neighbor. I live right on _Perfetto_ Street. I am a tour guide for the castle near the main plaza. If you ever wish to take a tour, just tell me if you see me around."

"Really?" Mom asks. "I didn't know there were tours for the castle!"

"Maybe there weren't ten years ago," Heidi explains. "Or maybe you didn't know about the tours because barely anyone knows about our tours."

"Do you think that we could take a tour today?" Mom asks.

"Sorry, there aren't any more tours for today," Heidi apologizes. "The castle is strictly off-limits when there are no tours going on."

Heidi walks off. She seems so fluid in motion! Ena sees this too.

"She seems nice," Ena says. "Can we take the tours?"

"Sure," Mom replies. "But I need to check the prices."

"Whatever," Afro says. "She obviously got plastic surgery."

I don't think so. She looks naturally beautiful, but I don't dare to contradict Afro. When Afro says things like that, it probably means that she's jealous. A jealous Afro is not something to mess with.

As we turn and walk into the hotel, I see something. Instead of turning onto _Perfetto_ Street, Heidi turns toward the castle and walks in through a side door.

I thought that the castle was strictly off limits! What's going on?

_REVIEW!!!!!! Please!!! ;-( I might not update for a while because I need to write a chappy for "My Very Frustrating Life". Show your support and review! _


	3. Chapter 3

**More chapters up ahead! I'm not sure if I should have the parents get eaten or not. It would make the jewel sisters and the Greek goddess sisters pretty much hate the Volturi, so I probably will make them get eaten for some obstacles in the paths. Thanks, **_**watermelonandpeanutbutter**_**, for your review!**

**Disclaimer: I only own the characters that you've never heard of.**

**Enter the Volturi**

_Alex POV: Volterra, Italy_

It turned to night and Mom and Dad still didn't return. I began to worry about them.

"Sam, what could've happened to them?" I ask.

Sam knows that I am talking about Mom and Dad.

"I have no idea. Maybe they're still walking around," Sam suggests. "Do you think that we should go and look for them?"

"I guess so," Jo adds in. "Didn't they say that they would be in the center of the town? Wouldn't that be the town square or that place with the fountain and the clock tower?"

"Oh, yeah," I say. "And there's a castle near there also, right?"

"Well, you know how Mom and Dad love old architecture?" Sam asks.

"Oh!" Jo and I exclaim at the same time.

"I'll bet twenty bucks that they're in the castle!" I say.

"You're on," Sam replies.

We race to put on our flip flops and sandals and run to the door. Sam grabs the key to our suite and we dash off.

Even at night, the air in Volterra is humid and summer-y. As I walk on the cobblestone streets, I suddenly regret wearing sandals. It's hard to walk and run now.

Soon enough, we reach the castle. Suddenly, we all stop.

"Do you guys feel it?" I ask.

"There's something in there," Sam says, trembling. "There are more than one. They can sense our approach."

I furrow my eyebrows. I can feel, through my ability, a group of… somethings with tremendous powers.

"I can feel them!" I whisper-shout.

I walk closer to the castle and everything becomes clearer. My eyes widen in shock. There are so many powers! A mind reader, a sense paralyzer, a relationship controller.

Jo is frozen in place. She looks utterly terrified; her face is sheet-white. Sam and I rush to her side.

"What's wrong, Jo?" I ask.

"Mom and Dad- tremendous powers- blood- speed-blood-vampires-BLOOD!" Jo chokes out.

"What?!' Sam yells.

Jo seems to calm down a bit.

"They're vampires! They drank Mom and Dad's blood. They have superhuman senses, reflexes, and speed. They are very beautiful and strong. I-"

Sam and I share looks of horror. They killed Mom and Dad?!

Sam's normally angelic face twists into an expression of pure rage and determination.

"We're going in. We will avenge Mom and Dad," She says simply.

To anyone else, this would seem funny. Why would we take Jo so seriously?

Because Jo has never been wrong her entire life. We will trust her to our dying days.

Jo and I follow Sam.

"Wait up!" I say suddenly. "If these vampire things are so strong, powerful, fast, and all-knowing, shouldn't we make a plan?"

Sam stops. We huddle together. The hot summer night has suddenly turned freezing cold to us.

"Sam," I say calmly. "Can you take out all of their powers and superhuman abilities?"

"Done," Sam says with a sneer.

"I will use any of the abilities that I think may be useful," I continue.

"Wait," Jo says. "I have to clue you guys in on everything. I told you just about everything that you need to know right now, but there's more."

"What is it?" I ask urgently.

"When we go in, there are many guards everywhere. As we go into a large throne room, there will be three men; two dark haired and one blonde. The leader's name is Aro. We must take him out first because if he knows of our abilities, he will do everything in his power to keep us there and turn us into vampires for his guard." Jo informs us. "There's a girl with blonde hair who's the same age as us that has a very offensive ability. She can torture people with a look. Sam, you'll need to take care of her. Alex, that ability will help you a lot. Her twin brother is almost a head taller and has dark brown hair. He can take away all of your senses."

Sam and I nod. This will be almost suicidal. Sam closes her eyes for a second and concentrates on taking away everyone's abilities.

"Alex, can you help me?" She asks.

I gently touch her arm and imitate her ability. It's amazing! There are even more powers than I imagined!

I carefully take away everything that I can sense.

"We have to start soon!" Jo warns us. "They've figured out that someone is tampering with their abilities!"

With that, the three of us enter the front doors. Inside, there are marble columns everywhere. Latin words are carved on the ceiling.

There must've been guards here before, but apparently they left because of their ability loss.

Jo takes the lead and we follow her to a huge wooden door. I refuse to take in any more of the beauty in this castle. This is a murderous place.

"This is it," Jo whispers. "Don't worry, they can't hear us, thanks to you guys."

With that, we open the doors and a full-out attack begins.

_Arty POV: Volterra, Italy_

The hotel was magnificent. The rooms were absolutely luxurious and the food was divine.

"Stop ordering food from the room service menu!" Mom yells from the Jacuzzi. "It costs a lot!"

Afro sighs and orders another banana split.

"Afro!" Ena scolds. "Mom just said not to order from the room service menu!"

"Whoops," Afro says lazily. "My bad. Too late."

I roll my eyes and walk into one of the two rooms.

"I call this room with Ena!" I yell before plopping on the bed.

"What?!" Afro stutters. "No way! I have to share a room with Mom?!"

"What's wrong with that?" Mom asks from the Jacuzzi.

"Nothing," Afro says in a resigned voice.

The room service comes and Afro happily chomps down her banana split.

"Careful there, Afro!" Ena teases. "You don't want to get fat!"

"Um, guys, there's something I want to tell you," Afro says nervously.

"What's up?" I ask cautiously.

Afro quietly walks to the room that Ena and I are sharing. Ena and I exchange looks.

"I'm not quite sure how to explain this," Afro says nervously. "I have these… powers that-"

My eyes open wider. Ena and I exchange a look.

"Um, Afro!" I interrupt. "It's okay. Ena and I have strange powers too."

"Really?" Afro asks. "What can you guys do?"

"Well," I say. "I can control animals. Not like they're my slaves, but I can ask them to help me and everything."

"And I sort of have this… sixth sense," Ena continues. "Of what to do in most situations."

"Wow," Afro says. "How come you guys didn't tell me this before?!"

"Well," I blush. "We didn't think that you had a power, so we didn't want to creep you out."

"I can do two things," Afro says. "I can change others' appearances- only to make them prettier or turn them back to normal- and I can control love."

"Wow," I say. "Wait- if you can change others' appearance to make them prettier, then did you change your own appearance to make you look like this?"

"No," Afro says, smiling. "But I can."

With that, she closes her eyes and holds her palms out. Her already beautiful face transforms into an inhumanly beautiful creature. It burns my eyes to look at her. There is no imperfection on her.

Afro's blonde hair turns into the exact color of gold and is impossibly shiny. Her already perfect eyes become almond shaped and turn into the color of the sky on a bright sunny day. Her nose is one that most girls would die for. Her teeth are perfectly white and straight.

She is tall, but not too tall, model-like, and statuesque. The sight of Afro actually makes me want to cry. She is so perfect!

Then, Afro goes back to her normal self. But she keeps her nose.

"Afro!" I yell. "Afro! Your nose!"

Afro rolls her eyes. She pouts.

"Fine," Afro says. "What, I can't even keep part of my power?"

I roll my eyes. Afro's nose goes back to normal.

Ena smiles warmly at Afro. Ena and Afro have never been too close, mostly because of an incident that happened a few years ago.

Now, though, it seems that Ena and Afro can finally well, bond, together.

"Want to go explore Volterra?" I ask with a cocky grin.

"But isn't it already dark?" Afro asks, confused.

"That makes it better!" Ena said excitedly.

I grin at Ena and then set off to tell Mom.

"Mom!" I yell in front of the bathroom door. "Mom! We're going to the clock tower area! We'll be back in an hour!"

"Fine," Mom says back. "But make sure you come back right on time!"

I smile and skip off the tell Ena and Afro. Ena looks at my face and bursts into cheers.

I put on my sneakers and jog out of the room. Ena quickly follows. Afro drags behind, taking time to check her reflection in the mirror.

"Oh, would you please just use your power and get your butt out here?!" I ask, exasperated.

Afro's face lights up and she changes into her dazzlingly beautiful form.

I roll my eyes and we set off to the heart of Volterra. It doesn't take long because all three of us have the common sense to wear sneakers.

Five minutes later, we are standing in front of the castle. Its old designs and architecture are wonderful.

"Do you think we can go in?" Afro asks.

"No, remember what Heidi said?" Ena replies. "She said that the castle was strictly off limits when there weren't any tours."

"But, guys," I interrupt. "When Heidi left, I didn't see her go on _Perfetto_ street. She turned and entered the castle from a side door!"

"Well, I still think that there's some sort of security…" Ena trailed off.

"Don't spoil the fun!" I exclaim before running off toward the side down that I saw Heidi go through.

I push the door, but it doesn't budge. Ena hurries up behind me and says,

"I know what to do,"

"Or course you do," I say, annoyed. "It's your power."

Ena slams into the door and it moves slightly. She pants.

"You try," She says.

Nodding, I step back a few paces and then run at full speed toward the door. I crash into it.

"Ow," I say absentmindedly.

My whole shoulder feels like it's on fire. I wait for the pain to subside, but it stays.

Afro daintily walks past us and into the castle. We follow suit.

There are marble columns and foreign words carved everywhere. This truly is a castle. As we walk, we approach a large wooden door. We hear screams coming from within.

Afro gives me a quizzical look. I shrug. We both turn to look at Ena.

"What?" Ena asks, confused.

"Well," I say, confused, too. "Should we go in or not?"

"I don't know," Ena says. She looked like she's about to cry. "I can't use my ability."

I frown and call the first animal that comes to my mind. A cat.

Nothing happens.

"I can't use my ability, either!" I whisper.

I turn around to stare at Afro. Her face is back to normal. She looks panicked.

"Me neither!" Afro yells.

"I guess…" I pause. "We should go in?"

Ena shrugs and pushes the door open.

_Yay! I'm so impatient; I can't wait to do the jewel sisters' fight scene and the greek sisters' shock scene! PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And sorry about my Italian :)_


	4. Chapter 4

**I loveeeee writing fanfictions! I'll write about the other topics in my vote when I get bored of this story. I don't know why, but I slightly favor the jewel sisters over the greek sisters. Maybe it's because of their powers. Imagine Aro's greedy face when he hears about these gifts! Also, do you think that I should do some POVs in other characters like Sam and Afro? PM me!!!**

**Disclaimer: I only own the characters that you've never heard of.**

**Creepy**

_Alex POV: Volterra, Italy_

I couldn't believe these… vampires. How could they do that?! Of course I understood that their hearts were dead and cold-literally, but didn't they have a soft spot for their parents-or creators or whatever?

HOW COULD THESE VAMPIRES JUST KILL OUR PARENTS?! They were so young and they had three children! We were going to make them PAY.

Right before I open the huge mahogany doors, Jo stops me.

"You guys do know that this mission is suicidal, right?" Jo asks in a quiet voice.

That makes me pause and turn around. Anger clouds my face.

"Of course I know that," I say, barely containing my rage. "It would be so much easier to just run away now. But we can't. Even though this is suicidal, we have to try as hard as we can. You want to know why? Because running away tells the vampires that it's _okay_ that they killed Mom and Dad. And it is certainly not OKAY!"

Tears flow down Jo's cherubic cheeks. She looks so heartbroken that I almost reach out to comfort her. A second later, I remember that Jo is a terrific actress and is probably faking it. She does this all the time.

"It's alright," I say stiffly.

Sam is in the same awkward posture that I am in. We both straighten up, and before I can change my mind, I push open the door.

What lies in front of us is a large circular room with a marble dome and more Latin-inscribed columns. A small platform is in the center of the room, and three throne-like chairs rest on it. I only have a second to take the view in before I start absorbing powers.

My eyes dart around and I spot the short, blond haired girl. She glares at me, and then sneers. I smile tauntingly back. Her eyes are slits now, and it looks like she is concentrating something on me, but nothing happens. She hisses and launches herself at me, but she moves at human speed.

She is bug-eyed now. I bet that she isn't used to being slow and not in control. I absorb her power and then turn around to face a man.

The man has long, black hair that reaches past his shoulders and milky red eyes that bore into my green eyes. He is wearing a black suit. I immediately recognize him as Aro, the dangerous leader that Jo described.

"Hello, child, what is your name?" Aro asks in a slow voice.

I narrow my eyes at him and am about to run when Jo comes out of nowhere and slaps him on the face. Aro stares at her, shocked.

I turn around and see many vampires knocked out. One of the remaining vampires is a tall-ish, handsome boy with brown hair. That must be the numbing boy.

Jo notes the direction I am looking and nods. I absorb the boy's power then grin at him. He stares at me with an emotionless expression, and then frowns. He must have been using his power!

"Sam! Jo! You guys can stop," I say, grinning.

They turn around. Most of the vampires seem to be waking up. This is the perfect time. Just as I am about to use the boy's power, a hand grabs me from behind. I scream.

Jo's eyes widen, but she's too far away to get to me. Sam breaks into a run, but even with her years in training on the track and field team, she can't get to me in time, I can see.

Aro begins to choke me. Through a hazy fog, I use my senses and pick the first power that I can sense. The little girl's power.

I use every bit of my concentration and focus the power on Aro.

Aro falls back like an elephant jumped on him, and then begins to thrash around. His teeth are gritted, but I can hear the screams that he's trying to hold in.

I run to the other side of the room, where Sam and Jo are staring at me wide-eyed. They hug me silently while I carefully desensitize all of the vampires. Sam withdraws her power and breathes out a sigh of exhaustion.

Suddenly, Sam stiffens. I glance nervously at her. Jo turns into a statue again. I realize what they are detecting. If my instincts are correct- and they always are, there are three more vampires outside. One of them had the ability to call and control animals, one could change her appearance, and one had a sixth sense for what to do in every situation. I could use that gift.

"More vampires?" I ask in a whisper.

"No," Jo unfreezes and looks confused. "Not vampires. They're humans."

"Sam," I instruct. "Block them anyway."

"I already did," Sam says.

We wait for the humans to come in. Why are there humans here? Why are the humans still _alive_?

Slowly, the door creaks open and we face three girls.

The one with glasses has curly black hair and intelligent grey eyes. The one in the middle has black hair, too, but it's straight, and she has dark eyes. The one on the right is completely different from the others and has wavy blonde hair and blue eyes. It seems like all three are related.

I sense their powers. The curly haired girl could sense what to do in certain situations, the straight haired girl was the one who could control animals, and the blonde, not surprisingly, was the one who could change appearances.

"Who are you?" I ask.

* * *

_Arty POV: Volterra, Italy_

We were going to get into big trouble. First we sneak into an ancient castle, and now our powers are gone! Could things get any worse?

"What should we do?" I ask desperately.

"Things can't really get any worse," Ena says, reading my mind. "So I guess we should just go in."

"Yep," Afro agrees shortly.

I push open the giant mahogany doors. They creak open and I gasp at the sight.

Bodies are everywhere, and three girls our age are standing on top of them. For some reason, there is no blood anywhere.

All three girls look snobby and rich. The middle one has bright green eyes and lovely, straight dark hair. Something about her screams 'Dangerous'! I can't help but be intimidated by her.

The one on the right reminds me of Afro. It pains me to think it, but her icy beauty even surpasses Afro's! That girl seems like an otherworldly supermodel! Her shimmery blond curls reach just past her chin and her natural purple eyes sparkle as they look at me. She seems like another popular girl stereotype.

The third girl has similar features to the rest of them, but her features are rounder and less angular. She has huge blue eyes that make her seem so helpless! Her lustrous mahogany hair waves slightly and reaches past her waist. I can't help but feel like I want to protect her!

The three girls look so different, yet they also look related. I wonder if they are nonidentical triplets, like Ena, Afro, and me.

I glance at Afro, who is sizing up the blond girl for a catfight. I fight a giggle. Of course Afro would do that.

Ena is staring at the innocent girl. I can tell that she thinks that the girl is deceptive, but cannot tell. The innocent girl smirks as if she knew what Ena was frustrated about.

That left me with the dangerous girl. I shuddered.

"Who are you?" The dangerous girl asks.

"Who are _you_?" I ask back. Ena and Afro look as puzzled as I must look.

"Answer my question," The dangerous girl spits.

"Answer mine," I retort, a smile on my lips.

A look of disdain plays on the dangerous girl's face. She motions slightly to her blonde sister, who smiles. The smile makes her face look sinister. I shudder. The girl's smile widens.

"We don't want to hurt you, but we will if we have to," The blonde girl says.

"So can we," Ena shoots back.

The innocent-looking girls steps up. She grasps her sisters' hands and squeezes slightly. She turns to face us.

"Answer all of our questions or we will tie you all up here and leave your fate to the newly awakened, angry vampires here," The girl says angelically.

"Vampires?!' I ask in disbelief.

"Yes, vampires," The dangerous girls says. "So answer our questions in a helpful manner and we'll let you go."

Ena looks queasy, so I guess that they are telling the truth.

"Fine," I say. "What do you want?"

"First, tell us your names, where you come from, and what you are doing here," The dangerous girl replies.

"I'm Artemis, and they are Athena and Aphrodite," I quickly explain.

"We are from Athens, but Volterra is now our permanent residence," Afro continues.

"We came here for an adventure," Ena says shakily.

The dangerous girl gives us each an once-over. She nods at the blonde.

"Since you've introduced yourselves," The dangerous girl says. "I think that it's only fair that we introduce _ourselves_."

"Fair?!" Afro yells, outraged. "You think that blackmail is fair?!"

"To us, yes," The blonde says, smirking. "Now shut up if you want to know about us."

Ena's head falls and she shrinks back like the outburst sucked out all of her energy.

"Anyway," The dangerous girl continues. "My name is Alexandra. The blonde is Samantha, and she's Johanna. Feel free to call us Alex, Sam, and Jo."

"Are you suggesting that we'll be seeing you again?" I ask angrily.

"I believe so," Jo says in an even voice.

I growl. How did everything get so strange?! Vampires?!

"Give us our powers back!" Ena yells.

"Calm down," Alex smiles.

"We would like to… make an alliance with you guys," Jo continues.

"With us?!" I ask in disbelief.

"Yes, you," Sam says.

"But why?" Ena asks, confused.

"Look, we know that you guys have powers, too. These vampires here killed our parents. We need all the help we can get," Alex says in a low voice.

"Oh," That's all I can say.

"I know that we told you our names, but we didn't tell you what we can do," Sam continues. "I can take away powers. That's why you guys can't do anything right now. Alex here can absorb others' powers and use them. Jo can sense what others' powers are and everything else about them."

"For example," Jo explains. "I know what your powers are and I know how confused you guys are. Let me explain."

For the next ten minutes, Jo tells us everything there is to know about vampires. I'm fairly certain that the vampires don't even know some of this information!

"… and don't forget to stay away from Aro. Jane and Alec are dangerous, too," Jo finishes.

"Thanks," I say.

"Will you guys please help us?" Jo pleads.

It seems near impossible to say no to her.

"I… guess…" Ena stammers.

"Sure," Afro says coolly.

"I guess we're helping you guys," I say.

"Great!" Jo exclaims. "You guys can have your powers back!"

Sam frowns for a second, then smiles dazzlingly at us. Our powers come back. I flex my power.

"How do you know we won't run away?" I ask tauntingly.

"Because," Alex smirks. "We'll catch you rightaway and toss you to the vampires."

I gulp visibly. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ena check her watch.

"Artemis!" Ena whisper-yells. "It's past midnight! Mom will be so worried!"

"Look," I say. "Our mom was expecting us around an hour ago. If we don't leave now, she'll send out a search party."

"Okay," Jo says quickly. "We'll visit your room when we can. We already have your room numbers and cell phone numbers. And our room is number 715."

"Sure," I say. "We really need to go."

And with that, we walk right out the front door.

_Yeah, I know it was a really confusing ending, but I needed to upload!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! More fun later, I promise! :)_


	5. Chapter 5

**These chapters are sooooooooo long!!! But they're pretty fun to write. Do you think that the sisters should get along? Should they be captured by the Volturi? Should they be turned into vampires? Will the greek sisters' mom get killed, too? Review or PM me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Disclaimer: I only own Alex, Sam, Jo, Ena, Arty, and Afro. And their relatives.**

**Confused**

_Alex POV: Volterra, Italy_

After Athena, Artemis, and Aphrodite left, Sam, Jo, and I talked for a while. We decided to stay in our hotel room and eat room service until something else could be done.

When we arrive at our hotel room, Sam immediately plunks down and pulls out the room service menu. I roll my eyes but join her.

The room service comes within five minutes with a steak, baked potatoes, lasagna, smoked salmon, a shrimp cocktail, and a chocolate fondue set. It costs about a hundred and fifty bucks, but we don't really mind.

"When do you think we should pay the others a visit?" Sam asks. She daintily lowers a sauce-covered shrimp into her mouth.

"We'll be seeing them today at around five," Jo informs us. "Their mom will be going to a spa. Afterwards, they will be moving into their new house- the lovely villa across the street."

"Great," I say lazily. "Any chance that-"

Jo stands up so suddenly that the chair behind her knocks over. Her bright blue eyes cloud over into a murky aqua. Her hands are clenched together so tightly that her knuckles have turned ghostly white.

Jo's face is different. Unlike the rest of her body, which is posed to attack, her face is wearing an expression of pure devastation.

"What's wrong, Jo?!" I yell.

"The vampires!" Jo shrieks. "The vampires are coming to get us!"

"What?!" I yell.

"Don't worry. We can take them," Sam says coolly.

"Of course _we_ can take them," Jo says. "But can Athena, Artemis and Aphrodite? Really, Sam,"

"We can always join our powers together!" Sam replies cheerfully.

"I guess that we could, but wouldn't the vampires be a bit more prepared now that they're the ones attacking us? I mean, the vampires we took out couldn't have been the _only_ vampires alive, right?" Jo asks.

"That's true," I ponder. "Shouldn't we go warn them? Jo, any idea when they're coming?"

"Umm…" Jo's eyebrows furrow for a second as she concentrates. "Not good."

"Why?" I ask. "What is it?"

"Oh, no," Sam says.

"Oh, yes," Jo informs us. "They are planning on coming _right now_."

* * *

_Arty POV: Volterra, Italy_

Ena was reading a history textbook and Afro was redoing her makeup when we heard the doorbell ring. Mom had just gone over to our new house with our suitcases, so I assumed it was her. It wasn't.

"Hey guys," I say. "I think that's Mom. We have to go now."

"Aw man!" Afro calls from the bathroom. "I just need to perfect this layering technique…"

"I need to finish this chapter!" Ena says. "It's about the Trojan War! Did you know that when excavators dug up Troy, they found not one but…"

Ena drones on and on. Luckily for me, living with her for fourteen years has given me the power to block out her rambling.

Sighing, I walk to the door and open it to find Alexandra, Samantha, and Johanna. Alex is leaning on the doorframe in a bored way. Sam looks gorgeous but deadly, as usual, but she looks concerned, too. Jo looks worried in a way that makes me want to hug her and tell her that everything's alright.

"Is it alright if we come in? Too bad, we're already in," Sam says casually.

My temper flares up for a second, then dies back down as I stare back into Sam's intimidating beauty and cold eyes. Sam gives me a wolf-like smile.

I roll my eyes back at her, but then ask the obvious question.

"What are you guys doing here?!" I ask.

"Because we feel like it," Alex retorts.

I glare at her, and she smirks at me. I send a spider into her hair.

"Actually, we're here because the vampires are coming- _today_," Jo says. "If we join together, we might be able to fight them off."

"Why do you need us?" Ena asks, creeping up behind me. "Just do what you guys did last time!"

"Because, hare-brain," Sam drawls. "Last time, the vamps weren't prepared. We snuck up on them. But this time, they're sneaking up on us. Don't you think that they'll be _much_ more prepared?"

"Good point," Ena frowns, looking down.

"I believe that there will be much more vampires," Jo says. "After all, the vamps that we saw can't be the only vamps, can they?"

"That's right," Afro says. "When are they coming, Jo?"

"Very soon," Sam snickers.

"I wasn't asking you," Afro shoots.

"AHHHHH!!!" Alex screams. "There's a spider in my hair!'

"Took you long enough to realize," I chuckle.

Alex gives me a death glare then reaches her hand out toward me. I get in a position to dodge a punch or slap, but then realize, a second too late, that Alex is not aiming for a direct hit.

The moment Alex touches my arm, I feel faint and paralyzed. Alex leans forward and smiles at me.

A few seconds later, Alex backs away. I know that she hasn't done anything to me, but I can feel where and how she copied my power.

I feel something crawling around in my hair. I smile and quickly remove the spider from my hair without having to touch it. Alex growls. Even though she mimicked my power, my power is still stronger then hers.

"Um, guys?" Ena asks quietly. "I think the vampires are coming."

"Yeah, I can feel them," Jo adds.

"Wait-no, it's Heidi!" Ena smiles brightly. "She thinks that we don't know she's one of _them_."

"We can trick her!" Jo exclaims.

"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Ena smiles radiantly at Jo. "Hey, guys, let Jo and me do all the talking. You guys just add comments and support us, okay?"

"Sure," We all say.

The door suddenly clicks open, and we spin around, shocked. It's Mom.

"Umm… Mom!" I say rushedly.

"Mom, I thought you were in the new house preparing!" Ena says.

"Who are these girls?" Mom asks cautiously.

"Oh," Alex says. "My name is Alexandra. This is Samantha and Johanna."

Mom looks at them suspiciously. Jo beams at her and Mom evidently relaxes.

"We met in the town square," Jo informs Mom. "We're from New York. Volterra is our vacation spot of the year."

"I hope it's alright if they're here right now," Afro says worriedly. "They are staying right down the hallway."

"Yeah, I mean… our… parents… could pick us up anytime," Sam adds a bit sadly.

"Okay then," Mom says, a hint of a frown still on her face. "Have fun, but remember that we still have to move. Darlings, you are welcome to come anytime."

"Sure thing!" Alex says cheerily.

Mom leaves with a stack of boxes.

"I hope she doesn't run into- HEIDI!" I exclaim. "The vampires are going to use Heidi to get to Mom!"

"That's very true," Alex says, frowning. "We better go and get her before Heidi does!"

Sam and Ena rush out of the door first. Apparently they've both been in some sort of running competitions before. The rest of us race behind.

In front of us, Sam and Ena have stopped. They are both staring wide-eyed at something. As I catch up, I see what they are staring at.

"Aiuto mio!" Mom's voice is crying.

"What?!" Afro asks cluelessly.

"She just said 'help me'!" I yell. "We're too late! Heidi's already there!"

* * *

_well... i know i took a long time, but i was really busy with a lot of projects and then i got sick :( try to enjoy!!!_


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm soooo sorry that I haven't updated in such a long time. Middle school teachers just don't understand that OTHER TEACHERS ALSO GIVE HOMEWORK TO US. I also went on a cruise during the break :) Have fun reading this!**

**Too Late**

_Alex POV: Volterra, Italy_

"We have to save your mom!" I yell at Arty.

Ena looks petrified, Arty looks heartbroken, and Afro looks like a ball of fury. Surprisingly, she reminds me of Sam. They are both stubborn, headstrong, and beautiful on the outside.

"This way!" Arty shouts.

Arty's hands lash out and a tiger springs out of nowhere. Her eyes widen.

"Okay, I did _not_ mean to do that," Arty says.

I manage a tentative smile at her. She glares back. I sigh exasperatedly.

Arty leads the way as we run to find their mother. We are running down a dark alleyway when I yell, "STOP!"

"What?!" Arty asks. "Our mother is about to die, hello!'

"I just thought that we need a plan," I say. "As soon as the vampires' special abilities are taken away, won't they know that we're close?"

"Yeah," Sam continues. "We still need to conceal ourselves."

"Well," Afro says shakily. "I can change people's appearances, but I'm not sure if I can do anything but make people more beautiful."

"Try," Jo says soothingly. "We need all the help we can get. Here, um, try to make Sam look just like Heidi."

"Easy!" Afro says cheerily. "Didn't I say that my specialty was beautification?"

Sam snarls a bit at the mention of someone better-looking than herself, but settles down as she remembers that vampires are changed to be perfect. I can tell that she is thinking about how utterly perfect she would look as a vampire.

In a few seconds, Heidi is standing in front of me. I smile cheerfully at Afro who throws back a weak smile and a thumbs-up.

"Oh," Jo says. "Aphrodite, your power is actually the power to create an illusion over someone!"

"What do you mean?" Afro asks, confused.

"What I mean is that you can change other people's- and your own- appearances!" Jo exclaims excitedly.

We are all silent for a few seconds, marveling at Afro's gift. This could mean so much!

"Well, can you conceal anyone with it?" Sam drawls out in a flat tone.

"What do you mean?" Afro sounds confused, but I can hear the snarl in her voice.

"Well, it's a pretty worthless gift unless you can shield people, isn't it?" Sam asks, smiling slowly.

"Well, excuse me!" Afro sassily exclaims. "But the last time I checked, your gift isn't so great either!"

"What?!" Sam yells. "I could have you powerless in a second!"

"Yeah, but you can't do anything with the power!" Afro retorts.

"So what are you suggesting?" Sam calmly asks with a smirk. "I obviously have the most powerful gift here."

"No," Afro shakes her head in a sad way. "Alex here could easily imitate your power and use it to take your power away afterwards. So stop acting like you're the best person here because you're not!"

Sam steps back with wide eyes, as if she's been slapped.

"Stop it, Aphrodite." I say in a cold, flat tone. "We have better things to worry about than your jealousy towards Sam."

Afro's eyes bug out surprisedly, as if she didn't believe that I would diss her for that. Sam smirks triumphiantly.

"Well-" Afro says.

Suddenly, Afro disappears. I stand still, shocked.

"Afro!" I call. "Are you still there? This is no time for games!"

"I'm not playing a game," Afro says while she reappears. "I just found out that I can turn people invisible."

* * *

_Arty POV: Volterra, Italy_

Within the next ten minutes, we come up with a somewhat brilliant plan. Using Afro's newfound gift, we decide to hide Sam under Afro's gift. Of course, neither Afro nor Sam are very happy about it, but we manage to convince them. After all, we are trying to save someone's life!

Ena is all fidgety about following the plan, but Jo manages to "reassure" her by saying that the vampires probably won't kill Mom, just hold her hostage for bait.

The plan is to veil (Afro's power can hide people from all senses) Sam, while Sam blocked everyone's gifts. Then, the rest of us would face them and try to get Mom back. I really didn't understand why Alex, Sam, and Jo wanted to help us, but it was a good thing that they did.

"We better hurry up," I say nervously. "We don't want to have the vampires think we're not going to save Mom- they might get hungry."

No one laughs at me half-joke. Of course, I don't expect anyone to.

Sam and Afro lead the way. As I peek around a corner, I spot Heidi. I freeze and my blood runs cold. Apparently she senses that we are close, because she turns around, looks right into my eyes, and smiles slowly. Her greedy, fake purple eyes glint in the half-light of the alley.

Afro freezes and I can see the outline of Sam stop. Sam is actually camouflaged, and anyone can spot her outline when she moves if they know what to look for. Heidi doesn't know that Sam is hidden, but I can see her eyes turn towards the flicker in the air.

Afro smiles a pretty, clueless smile and suddenly, Heidi's face begins to change. Suddenly, I am staring at a mirror image of Sam.

I giggle slightly and I hear Sam snarl, but we both suddenly freeze as we remember that Heidi might be able to hear us and then the entire plan would be ruined. However, Afro gives an almost unnoticeable shake of her head as if to say that Sam took Heidi's powers away already.

Heidi realizes that her vampire abilities are now gone and begins to run toward the castle. We run after her, but make sure to let her ahead of us.

Sam runs behind us all so that she is slightly hidden even more. Afro is the first one to fake breathlessness, and we soon follow suit. Heidi looks back at us and smiles triumphiantly through Sam's face. I hide my disgust at her happiness.

As soon as Heidi disappears to inside the castle, everyone starts running at top speed. Sam catches the closing door and we all slip in silently, letting the door shut behind us with a loud creak.

"We already lost the element of surprise," Jo informs us.

"Maybe not," I muse. "Maybe they will not believe Heidi and think that she is Sam."

Sam takes care of the vampires' abilities and we put our ears to the huge wooden door. Heidi is speaking.

"…but Master! Do you really think that I am that ugly, cheating, lying, stupid human? Can't you tell that the other human did this to me?"

"I am sorry," A powerful male voice replies. "We cannot prove that you are Heidi or Sam, and therefore, we must have you taken to security areas. Felix, Demetri?"

"Master," Another male voice says, this time scarier sounding. "Demetri and I have fallen prey to the human girl's powers. We no longer have our vampire abilities. Does this prove that this human being is not Heidi, but Samantha?"

"Maybe," The first male voice says. "Bring her next to the human woman and see her reaction."

My eyes widen and I mouth the word 'Mom' to Afro and Ena. They nod back at me.

Sam's figure glides swiftly forward and rams into the door. And we walk into a room full of vampires.

* * *

_FINALLY! I finally finished another chapter! I'm running out of ideas… help me by putting some in comments and/or PMing me!_


	7. Chapter 7

**HELP ME WITH IDEAS!!!!!!!!!!!! I have writers' block :( Anyways I know how this part goes… but help me with other scenes!**

**This Is the Part Where It Gets Ugly**

_Alex POV: Volterra, Italy_

As soon as we burst into the room, I know we have made a mistake. There are about a hundred vampires, some in light, shadowy grey robes and others in deep, dark black robes. I immediately spot Aro and two other men in midnight black robes. The short blond girl and her twin the brown haired boy were wearing robes that are only slightly lighter than Aro's.

"Sssss…" I hiss under my breath.

This is Sam's cue and signal. I mean to ask her if she got the vampires covered, because if they aren't, and they hear me call Sam's name, the plan would be ruined. A nudge to my arm confirms my question. The vampires are under control.

Now, many of the vampires are squinting, as they are not used to the "lack" of vision. I smile triumphantly and step forward one step. Everyone's eyes are on me.

"I am here to negotiate and make you a deal," I say loudly and clearly. "Give us the human woman back and we will not have to hurt you."

"Hurt _us_?" The brown-haired twin with a slight Italian accent smirks at me.

"I'd like to see that," The blonde-haired twin adds.

"Quiet, Alec, Jane," Aro commands.

"Yes, master," Alec and Jane say at the same time.

"Now what kind of… _deal_ is this?" Aro asks slowly.

"Like I said, give us the woman back or we will attack," I calmly proceed. "You already know the glorious powers that we possess."

The long blonde-haired man standing next to Aro smiles creepily.

"Gentlemen?" Aro asks with a wave of his fingers.

I step back, confused, as Aro and the two men next to him walk up to the thrones in the middle of the room and sit down.

I am suddenly seized and blindfolded, and I feel that all of my companions are, too. I growl and start to use my power to "feel" my surroundings. My power isn't like sight; it's more like infrared. I feel powers emitting from individuals and I use my power to copy them.

Sam is right next to me, but she is darting around to avoid getting hit by the vampires that are now pulling Afro, Jo, Ena, Arty, and me towards something. My instincts kick in. I quickly absorb everyone's power around me, but my timing is a bit off and I find that I have combined everyone's power together.

There is no more time to correct my mistake. Vampires shove us into a dark, moist hole. I am alone. Sam must still be working her powers, because I can hear confused shouts from outside.

I "borrow" a random vampire's powers and unbind myself. Even without the blindfold, I cannot see anything in this damp place. I move around and my hands register the cold, damp stone walls around me. My mind registers something. I am in some sort of dungeon!

I can feel Jo in the cell to my right, and Athena on my left. I can tell that both of them have used their powers to tell what has happened, but I feel worried for Artemis and Aphrodite, but resist my urge to call them.

Suddenly, a door is flung open in my cell and light pours in. A vampire guard rushes in and grabs me. I struggle, but even without his powers the vampire is stronger than me. My arms are pinned behind my back and I am shoved forward harshly.

A few yards away, Aphrodite is in the same position, except her eyes are bugging out and she looks utterly bewildered. I realize that I should probably look like that too, but the guard takes one look at my facial expression and smirks.

"That's not going to work, human," He says.

I realize that it is the brown-haired twin. I study his face. He is perfect-looking, like all the other vampires, but something about him tells me that he is very experienced in the 'art of captivity.'

"Shut up," I retort, not in the mood for being teased. I glare at the vampire that is holding me captive.

"Quiet, petty human," the guard sneers harshly. His bloodred eyes bore into mine, and I have the sense to stay silent.

"Alex! Where are we going?!" Aphrodite asks with a desperation that reflects in her eyes.

Suddenly, her facial expression turns stricken as we both realize that she just used my name.

"I'm so sorry Ale- I mean, um," Aphrodite says, panicking.

Her blue eyes turn to mine, pleading for help.

My temper flares up. She basically just ruined the plan. Well, it was already ruined, but still!

"Just shut up," I say harshly.

"Your name is Alex?" The guard asks me, faintly smiling.

"Yes-s…" I say slowly. "Why?"

"Nothing," The guard says and turns around.

The big burly guard who has Aphrodite captive smiles and stares into the distance. A third guard, who is small and mousy, smiles too.

"What's so funny?" I demand.

"'_What's so funny?!_'" Aphrodite demands. "Where's my _mother_?!"

"Calm, human," The guard holding my arm says.

"Alec!" A shrill girl's voice calls.

I turn involuntarily, as I think that the girl said "Alex", but instead, the guard holding me hostage turns, regret on his face.

Disgust seeps into me as I realize the guard's resemblance to my name.

"Jane?" Alec says as he turns.

"Aro wants the human leaders," The twin, Jane, says.

"Leaders?" Aphrodite says. "We're not, like, a club or something. We're, like, sis- uh, a, uh…cult! Yeah, we're opposing teams from the Sisters of… the World? Yeah, she's President of the Sisters of America, and I'm President of… the Sisters of Greece!"

"I have no time for your petty chatter, human," Jane says in a dead voice. "Follow me."

My arm is yanked forward. I follow Alec helplessly. Along the way down the marble corridor, I try to find Sam. She is waiting in the throne room. So the vampires are still pretty much helpless.

As I pass through the dreaded huge mahogany doors, I become face to face with Aro. Aro tries to grasp my hand, but I automatically become defensive and zap him with the first power that I sense.

A strangled screech emits from Aro as he falls to the ground in pain. I rear back, shocked, but I keep my hold on him.

"You *****!!!" Jane screams at me.

I merely turn around and zap Jane for a second before turning back to Aro, who is sprawled on the ground and breathing heavily.

"GAH!" Jane screeches before correcting herself. "I mean, um…"

"How dare you?" The blond haired vampire booms. "Worthless human! Who is the one with our gifts?"

Aphrodite recovers from her shock and I see her hands move to protect Sam further.

"You!" The blond vampire says to Aphrodite. "Are you the one? Your hands are moving! Release our powers!"

"N-no!" Aphrodite stutters. "It's not me! I-"

"Felix! Take her to the dungeon. Next to the human woman!" The long blond haired vampire says.

The big buff vampire moves and forces Aphrodite toward the door. I see her smile at the prospect of seeing her mother.

"Jane," The third vampire with long dark hair says in a gravelly voice. "Fetch Heidi, Afton, Santiago, Chelsea, Corin, and Renata. Escort the other girls out of their cells."

"Yes, master," Jane says. "Is Alec coming?"

"Bring Alec," The vampire says.

Aro gets up and brushes dirt off of his suit. He walks calmly to the front of the throne room and sits in the front throne. Aro's eyes bore into mine and reflect nothing but hatred.

"Now, human," Aro says in a soft voice.

I brace myself for pain, but feel nothing.

"You would make a nice guard," Aro says, cocking his head to stare at me.

"But-" The blond vampire interjects.

"Caius, look at the potential!" Aro says strongly.

"Child," The other dark haired vampire says. "We cannot let you go now that you know our secret. We will let you and your _friends_ remain human until the day before your fifteenth birthday. Until then, we will transport you anywhere around the world to say your goodbyes."

"Yes," Aro adds. "And don't try to run away. Demetri here is the finest tracker in the world."

"What about the human woman that you have hostage?" I ask boldly.

"She will not remain for much longer. She will serve as a nice temporary secretary." Aro says, smiling coldly.

So this is his revenge. I immediately regret my actions, but I don't beg for forgiveness like Aro expects me to.

Instead, I challenge him.

"I will not join this coven," I say. "When I am changed, I will use my refined power and I will rebel. You will never contain me. I will get all the covens to overthrow you."

"Very well," Aro says. "But if you want the others to survive, you will stay. How would you like your last friends on earth to never be changed and die?"

_Arty POV: Somewhere in Volterra, Italy_

A vampire yanks a door open somewhere in the distance. I cannot see or sense anything but damp, earthy air.

A hand rips my blindfold off and I take in the light. The female in front of me is stunningly beautiful with dark brown hair and strange purple eyes. I recognize her as Heidi.

"Heidi?" I ask, rubbing my eyes.

"Yes, human," Heidi spits. "Your little illusion trick didn't work."

"Well, that's too bad," I say, smiling despite the danger.

Heidi glares at me so fiercely that I think, _If looks could kill, I'd be a zombie by now_.

"Aro wants you," Heidi spits, avoiding eye contact, like I'm too dirty to look at. She grabs my arm with two fingers and pulls me out of the cell.

I brush the dirt off of my clothes.

"If it was up to me," Heidi says. "I would have kept you in there until you rotted."

"Geez," I say. "Looks like _someone_ holds grudges."

"FOLLOW ME HUMAN, AND SHUT UP!" Heidi screeches.

"…and has problems," I mutter.

Heidi glared at me but didn't add any comment. I followed her down the long marble hallway as I caught glimpses of what I thought to be my last look at beauty.

The first things I see in the throne room are the three main guards. One of the guards is the big and burly. He reminds me of the football players back in Athens. The other one is small and a bit mousy, but he looks formidable all the same. The last guard is Alec, Jane's twin, the ones Jo had warned us about. Alec looks completely emotionless and perfect. He seems to have dealed with hostage situations before.

"Greetings, Johanna, Artemis, and Athena," Aro begins.

I notice that both Alex's name and Aphrodite's name were excluded. Alex glares at Aro.

"Where's my sister?!" Ena asks, horrified. "Let us go!'

"Where's my mom?!" I yell.

"_You _killed my parents!" Jo says, eyes glazing over. "I will rip you to shreds! I will-"

"Quiet, little ones," Aro says, smiling. "Caius, Marcus, and I have come to a decision. We cannot let you go. You know too much."

A hiss escapes from Alex's mouth.

"The fight is over," Caius says in a cold, icy voice. "Return our powers to us."

"We don't have them," I counter in an equally icy voice.

As soon as I say that, the air ripples around me. Sam appears suddenly, eyes bulging.

"What the-?" Alex asks.

"Where's Afro?!" I whisper-shout.

My question is met with blank looks.

Aro looks triumphiant.

"Ah! I see," Aro says with an evil smile. "Let me guess. You used the other girl, Aphrodite, to hide Samantha here from our view. So lovely Samantha here is our culprit. Felix? Demetri? Take Samantha down to the… special rooms. Caius will deal with her personally later."

"With that human filth?" Caius jumps up, enraged, but backs down at the sight of Aro's expression. "I most certainly will no- I mean, most certainly _will_, Lord Aro."

"You're wrong!" I blurt out.

"Oh, really?" Aro says with a smug grin. "Then who _is_ the one who did this?"

I search around the room, only to be met by panicked stares.

"It's me, Aro," Alex says.

_I'm very sorry for not updating… A lot of stuff has been going on. Enjoy this chapter! I'm going to post a chapter for My Very Frustrating Life next._


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm on a roll! I need some ideas, though. Please feel free to leave notes, suggestions, questions, or anything else on the comments page.**

**Changing**

* * *

_Alex POV: Castle in Volterra, Italy_

The words come out of my mouth before I can stop them. It doesn't even matter, though. My parents are gone. I am trapped in this castle, forced to keep a secret from my only friends. And my sisters are in danger of dying. _And_, to top it all off, Aro hates me.

Artemis turns and stares at me, shocked. So do Athena and Jo. Sam just stands there, frozen.

"Alex, you can't-" Sam says in a trembling voice.

"Aro," I say in a strong voice. "I am your culprit. Take me to the cells."

"I'm sorry, Alexandra," Aro says coldly. "Do not lie to me. I understand that your sister, Samantha has a useful power, too. Perhaps we should change her too…?"

"Aro," The other dark-haired vampire says. "They are just children."

"They are the same age as Jane and Alec!" Aro snaps. "I understand that you still cry over the loss of Didyme and that immortal child, but this is a different matter altogether, Marcus!"

"Aro," The blond vampire, Caius, muses. "Two of the three triplets have powers. Perhaps the third one does, too? And the other triplets. Bring in Kelsey!"

"Who's Kelsey?" I demand.

"Quiet, human," Caius cautions.

"Kelsey is a member of our Hidden Guard," Marcus explains. "Her gift is to know every detail about other vampires' powers or gifts. If any of you have a particularly useful gift-"

"You will be given two choices. The first is to join the part of our guard that is not a secret," Aro interrupts. "The other choice is instant death."

A tall but teenage-looking statuesque girl walks in. She doesn't seem to be much older than me. Her blonde hair is extremely straight (like it has been ironed), her eyelashes are very long but thin, and she has freckles. She gives the big buff guard a _look_, and says,

"Hey Felix…"

"Tramp," Sam mutters. She realizes that Kelsey must've heard her and blushes.

The rest of us giggle quietly.

Kelsey begins to speak and I swear a light bluish-grey aura forms around her.

She examines me first, then goes on to the others.

"This girl can summon animals and even use certain qualities of animals. Her twin can tell exactly what to do in every situation." Kelsey says.

"That's right," Ena says, almost smiling. "Like right now I know that if we even got two inches near Felix here, you would rip us to shreds."

Kelsey ignores us but I swear that she would be blushing if she could.

"That dark haired girl over there can use others' powers, the blonde can take away others' powers, and the cute brunette can know everything there is to know about something just by looking at it." Kelsey continues. "These girls would be of much use to you, master Aro."

"Ah," Aro says mysteriously. "What about that girl downstairs?"

"Oh," Kelsey says sweetly. "I already checked her, master. She can change people's appearances, including her own. She can even turn people invisible!"

"Felix," Aro says. "Bring the blonde up. She is innocent."

Felix leaves the room quietly. Kelsey stares longingly after him.

Heidi glares at Sam and Kelsey. Wow. Talk about competition. But seriously? Sam likes _Felix_? That seems so stereotypical (blonde and big buff guy).

The small mousy guard, Demetri, and Alec share a _look_.

"Kelsey, call in Adrienne, Katherine, and Elise from their training," Caius commands.

"Yes, master Caius," Kelsey says, hurrying off after Felix.

Demetri elbows Alec, smiling, and whispers something like,

"Ha… get to see… Adrienne…"

"This is wonderful!" Aro exclaims.

As soon Felix and Aphrodite walk in a bit pink (I notice that Aphrodite has used her power and now she is glowing pure beauty), Aro starts making a big speech.

I also observe that Heidi, Kelsey, and Sam are all glaring holes in Felix and Aphrodite's intertwined arms (even if it is _obviously_ just for security purposes).

Adrienne turns out to be a very cute girl with a round baby-face, extremely long and thick eyelashes, and a useful persuasive voice but she is extremely stupid (when I asked her how she was doing, she replied by being surprised and said "Doing what?") Elise had a short reddish-brown wavy bob and bubbly personality. I immediately liked Elise but label Adrienne as… strange. Katherine seems very social. She flits around the room talking to everyone in cool tones, then joins Felix again.

And so on.

Aro tells everyone else what he told me; we will get to say our goodbyes and stay human until the day before our fifteenth birthday. That's it. Condemned to our dooms.

However, with heavy hearts, we decide that it would be best to have a clean break from our human lives. Aro (happily?) agrees and plans to have the hidden guard put up posters everywhere about our "disappearances". Our remaining family will be notified of our "deaths".

In return, Aro promises us answers to all of our questions.

"Who here drank my parents' blood?" I ask, trembling.

After I describe them, Adrienne says,

"I recognize one of the humans! She was the one whose blood smelled fantastic, remember?"

I glare around the room, daring someone to raise his/her hand. No one does. Even Alec, Felix, and Demetri look scared of me at the moment.

"Come on, darling!" Adrienne presses to Alec. "Remember?"

Alec actually has the nerve to stare at me and gulp.

I feral snarl escapes from my lips and I lunge at Adrienne. She disappears and appears a few feet to the right.

"Didn't I tell you, child?" Adrienne sneers. "I can teleport. You can never get-"

I "borrow" Jane's power and Adrienne falls to the ground mid-sentence and screams in agony.

"You disgusting leech!" I scream at Adrienne.

"Alexandra…" Aro cautions.

"Which one of you killed my father?" I yell.

For a moment, no one dares to answer or even dare to look me in the eye. Jo reaches a trembling hand out to comfort me, but I can tell that she is just as shaken as I am.

"Alex…" Jo, the all-knowing one says.

"You know, Jo!" I say. "Tell me!"

"I will kill whoever did this…" Sam mutters. "Starting with you, Adrienne."

Sam bares her teeth at Adrienne and Adrienne yelps. Even Aro, Marcus, and Caius hold their breaths.

Jo doesn't exactly respond the way I expect, but it's alright anyway. She bares her teeth- little innocent _Jo_ bares her teeth- and lunges at a shifty Heidi.

Pure fury bubbles up in me. Sam controls herself enough to stay in place and try to control my senses and powers. I scream and hurl myself at Heidi. Artemis, Athena, and Aphrodite fix beyond-hateful glares at Heidi.

"You-" I scream between pulling Heidi's hair and trying to slap her. "Horrible- filthy- disgusting- _thing_!"

When Heidi finally has the decency to say something, she says,

"Stop it! You're ruining my makeup!"

Even _Marcus_, the man with _no_ emotion, looks empathetic towards Heidi.

Immediately, I calmed down. Sam and Jo understood the look on my face. We had to accept our new life. Heidi was worse than dead once I became changed and my powers were developed.

I stand back and watch Artemis, Athena, and Aphrodite's tear-filled reunion with their mom and think about what happened to my parents. Adrienne and Heidi will pay. And hopefully Aro won't get too mad about it.

"Children, we must introduce you with all the other vampires of the guards," Aro says cheerily. "And so we will hold a party! I love good old parties!"

Great. Now Aro's going to introduce me to about a hundred hungry-looking vampires. Awesome. That just made my day.

"Adrienne," Aro's voice has an unnatural coldness. "Leave and inform the entire guard that there will be a Welcoming Ceremony."

"The _entire_ guard?" Adrienne says with disbelief. "You didn't call the whole guard for _my_ welcoming ceremony! My voice is going to die by the end of this!"

"Go now," Aro says.

Pouting, Adrienne leaves the throne room. I hear her mutter something to Kelsey on the way out.

"Hate that little Greek girl. The one with the dark hair? She thinks she's perfect and _so_ strong."

Kelsey is smart and says,

"Whatever Adrienne,"

"Adrienne…?" Caius says.

"Going, master," Adrienne says and hurries out the door.

"Chelsea," Aro says with a slight, evil-looking smile. "Would you be so kind as to… have our new members join our guard?"

"Yes, master," A tall woman whose face and body is concealed by a dark grey cloak replies solemnly.

"No!" Jo cries.

"You have to give us free will!" Athena adds.

I immediately react to Jo and Athena's expressions of horror and try to determine what Chelsea can do. It turns out that she can change our relationship bonds. My guess was that Aro wanted her to tie us closer to him.

"Aro," I say, gritting my teeth. "Don't even try."

It is too late, though. I feel a strange need to please the masters now.

"Children," Caius says in his commanding tone. "Make your choice. Become gloriously fast, strong, and perfect vampires or stay as petty, stupid humans."

I would do anything to stay human and not have to turn into a monstrosity like the vampires that killed my parents and felt no emotion over it, but I can tell that Caius is not one to bluff, and that if I declined the offer, I would die the most painful death that Caius could think of. And, seeing as Caius is a few millennia old, that would be _extremely_ painful.

"I will obey your command," I say coldly and emotionlessly, even though my insides are churning. I sense that Caius want to hear something else, too. "-_master_." I spit.

One after the other, my sisters and my new friends bow their heads in shame and chose eternal life.

* * *

_Arty POV: Volterra, Italy_

I can't believe this. We're going to become bloodsucking, emotionless vampires. How did this happen again? It all seems like some horrific nightmare.

A pretty Italian girl who introduced herself as Laelia walked me to my new room.

"I'm sorry you have to meet me like this," Laelia says sorrowfully. "But I suppose it's better than what happened to me. Aro saved me from the stake, like Jane and Alec."

Laelia shows me her whole left leg. I can tell that the vampire venom has healed most of it, but her leg is still horrifically burned.

"I'm so sorry…" I murmur.

"It's alright," Laelia replies quickly. "When I was given the choice, as a human, I, like you, refused the offer and preferred to die."

"But then how…" My voice trails off.

"I thought of my family, and how I might someday contact my little brother. He was left alone after mama and papa died, and I was burned at the stake for witchcraft."

"Witchcraft?" I ask, uncertain.

Laelia gives me a small smile and starts hovering in the air. She dives and catches herself centimeters from the granite floors. Her short blonde curls bounce all over the place and fall all over her face as she stands upright.

"Remember Jane and Alec?" Laelia says.

By this time, we are already at my room, but Laelia keeps talking.

"How could I forget?" I say.

"They were burned at the stake, too. Well, actually, they were going to be. I went first. The village was going to originally burn me for talking to Jane, but when they saw I could float in the air, they went ballistic." Laelia says. "Well, now I'm living a great life. Try to think about it. Turning into a perfect immortal being is not just a continuation of your old life. I'm not saying you should forget about your human life, but you should use this opportunity to start fresh."

With that, Laelia pushes me into the room and shuts the door gently after her.

"Aro's assigned me to be your aide for the week," Laelia explains. "Basically, my job is to show you around, let you know the rules, and make sure you dress appropriately."

"Right now, I need you out of that dirty outfit. Aro's planning a party tonight so we need to get you a dress. Its going to be a very formal event, with only the guard members and all." Laelia continues.

"Um, alright, I guess," I say. "But what are you going to wear if you're helping me?"

"Oh," Laelia smiles a warm smile. "Don't worry about me. I'll pick something up from where we're going."

Laelia picks up a hairbrush from a drawer. She combs her blonde curls lovingly for a second then turns to look at me.

"Any other questions?" she asks.

"Yeah," I say. "Where are my sisters… and my other friends?"

"Adèle, Elise, Laverna, Miku, and Valentina are working on them." Laelia grins at me. "They're in their rooms. Aro believes appearances are very important."

"Where's my mom?" I ask in a small voice.

"She's our new secretary!" Laelia exclaims. "Well, Aro let her be the secretary because our old secretary… well she's not working with us anymore."

Her words send a chill through the air as I realize what she means a little shudder passes through me as I remember that no matter how much Laelia looked like a super-friendly and nice supermodel, she was still a vampire who could kill me any second.

"Ohhh," Laelia smiles warmly. "Don't worry. I've been assigned to you because I'm one of the older vampires who can control their thirst. I don't want to kill you, silly. Aro would pretty much kill me."

I nod quickly, relieved. I suddenly realize that I'm exhausted. I sink back on the extremely soft pillows lying on my bed.

"Oh!" Laelia exclaims. "Silly me, I forgot humans have to rest. I just need you to try on this preordered dress and see if it fits. Then I'll leave you to sleep."

"Laelia?" I ask uncertainly. "When did Aro have the chance to get a preordered dress?"

"Oh," Laelia giggles. "We have a little cottage a few miles back that Heidi and I use to store hundreds of clothing items and accessories."

Laelia pulls out a beautiful, sparkly silver dress from the closet. It is a halter top with a sweetheart neckline and a large sparkly brooch on the gathered side.

"Wow," I say, astounded. "That really is pretty."

"Well of course, since I chose it," Laelia winks. "Now, you and your sister must be dressed up very noticeably, while the guard must dress a little… more boring."

After a few minutes of struggling, the dress is on. The fabric feels incredibly, unrealistically smooth.

"Laelia, what's this dress made of?" I say, shocked. "It's so smooth!"

"Well, of course, pure silk and one-carat diamonds," Laelia says innocently. "You are our guest, as of now. Guests deserve the best."

I stare at my reflection in the mirror. Back at home, mom would never be able to afford anything even _close_ to this.

"Let me see your dress!" I exclaim, suddenly in a cheery mood.

"Well, okay…" Laelia says a bit sullenly.

She goes back into my closet and takes out a long, strapless blue-green dress with a shimmery top that almost reminds me of a mermaid.

"Wow," I say, amazed. Laelia makes the somewhat boring dress seem beautiful and thought-provoking.

"Alright darling," Laelia says as she changes back. "You look tired. Rest up for the party!"

She glides out of the room and I plop back on the bed and close my eyes.

The thoughts I had been holding back explode in my head.

How could it have only been yesterday morning when the biggest concern of my life was trying to convince Mom to let us stay in the luxurious five-star hotel? And today, we were locked up in a huge stone castle, ready to be turned into vampires!

Something in my mind made it all feel unreal, like a dream. Vampires aren't real! I kept waiting for the wake-up call, for Afro to lean next to my ear and yell "Wake up Art!"

But I guess this is one of those dreams that don't just have one simple solution.

* * *

_Sorry again for not updating in a while. I'll write another chapter soon._


	9. The Guard Chart

**I have decided that it would be best to make a chart to show the Guard rankings and the full guard. I have listed powers; some are made up and some are from the books. Please use this guide to help you.**

**Chart of the Guards**

**Known Guard (A handful of the most talented vampires)**

Afton-*Changes someone's thoughts/feelings towards something (Artie's escort)

Alec-*Sensory paralysis (Alex's escort)

Chelsea-*Controls relationship bonds

Corin-*Power augmentation

Demetri-*Tracker (Ena's escort)

Felix-No power (Sam's escort)

Heidi-*Echolocation

Jane-*Causes physical pain

Renata-*Physical shield

Santiago-*Can alter your memory and create fake "memories" (Afro's escort)

**Unknown Guard (Aro's secret weapons)**

Adèle-*Air and wind manipulation (Alex's helper)

Adrienne-*Teleportation

Annebelle-*Liquification

Aneira-*Size shifting

Anya-*Weather manipulation

Aurelia-*Can glow with light and heat

Elise-*Can not help but like her (Afro's helper)

Elisabeth-*Plant manipulation

Emília-*Omni-linguism

Kamaria-*Electric manipulation

Katherine-*Shadow/darkness manipulation

Kelsey-*Power sensing

Laelia-*Can float a few feet off the ground (Artie's helper)

Laverna-*Takes items without notice (Ena's helper)

Miku-*Limited time travel (Jo's helper)

Mirabelle-*Has x-ray vision, night vision, microscopic vision, and heat vision

Sabina-*Water/ice/steam manipulation

Susphira-*Sublimation

**The Others (Vampires for Negotiation)**

Chloé-*Can bestow extreme luck or misfortune

Elliot-*Traps enemies in a bubble

Melissa-* Invulnerability to vampire powers

Thomas-*Aura of fear

Eric-*Sound illusions (Jo's escort)

Rosa-*Aura of innocence and weakness

Alexis-*Aura of trust (Sam's helper)

_And that is just a tiny fraction of the guard. As you may have noticed, I did not write down the names for the guard members without abilities, because there are hundreds of vampires in that group. Maybe this will help you understand my story better _


	10. Chapter 9

**Okay, I feel like writing another chapter. Please review. Help me think of ideas for the storyline because for the past few months I've had a huge case of writer's block. Also, I think I'll start spelling Arty, Artie, because of a suggestion made by a friend. Also cause it looks a little more feminine. The documents for the past chapters are already deleted, so I can't change the spelling. Have fun reading this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I only own the triplets.**

**Manipulation**

_Alex POV: Volterra, Italy._

I am sobbing on my bed. Well, my new bed. Adèle, my vampire "assistant," is incredibly nice, calm, and understanding, but I can't stop the tears that are flowing out of my eyes. I want my mom and dad to sit next to me and put their arms around me and call me their little girl and tell me everything is going to be alright.

But no. Everything is not going to be alright. Mom and dad are dead. Gone. They aren't coming back.

I will never again see my best friends Isabel and Hanna. Never again look into the eyes of my beloved pet dog, Sammy.

I think back to a month ago, when I was still in school and how the biggest issue in my life was stealing Cole Linet from that whiny brat Nora Jameson. And now, here I was, with only my sisters, about to be turned into _vampires_.

"I'm sorry Adèle," I sniffle. "It's just… everything is so sudden. A few hours ago I didn't even know vampires-like you- existed!"

"It's alright, Alexandra," Adèle says in a comforting voice. "Take your time. I know everything is hard to take in. Remember, I'll always be here to help you. Just tell me when you're ready."

Adèle is one of those people who probably can never get mad at anyone. She is so sweet and caring, as well as beautiful, with incredibly straight, long, mahogany colored hair.

"It's okay Adèle," I say, calming down. "I don't want to get you in trouble with Aro if I'm not ready. Let's start."

"Alright, if you say so," Adèle says, a little uncertain.

She stares into my eyes to see if I'm still unstable. Suddenly, I realize that her eye color is different than the other vampires' crimson. Her eyes are a reddish-orange.

"Adèle!" I ask, confused. "Why are your eyes orange?"

Adèle looks away for a second, guilty-looking, but turns back.

"Sometimes I get a little emotional about murdering humans for their blood," Adèle looks down, embarrassed. "Aro keeps telling me that it's just like nature, and that we're predators, but sometimes I feel guilty and when my thirst becomes too much, sometimes I give in and sometimes I go into the woods and hunt for animals."

"Oh." That's all I can think of saying.

A knock on my door breaks the awkward silence. Adèle gets off my bed to open the door. Alec stands in the doorway.

"Aro says you have to be ready in an hour,"

He stares at me for a second, then leaves quickly.

"Alright, we have work to do!" She says cheerfully.

For the next hour, she has me try on dress after dress after dress.

"You have to wear something special," She says.

Finally, we decide on a dark blue dress that has a sparkly criss-crossed halter top. Adèle smiles at me.

"And not a moment too soon," She says.

While she goes to the bathroom to change, I stare at myself in the mirror. After Adèle's work, _I_ couldn't even tell that I had been crying for hours.

Adèle comes out in a slightly boring dark grey dress. I frown slightly and Adèle explains that she must tone down her wardrobe, as I am the star of the party. She goes back in the bathroom to do her makeup.

There is another knock on the door.

"I'll get it," I say quietly. I know that Adèle can hear me from the bathroom.

I open the door and find Alec, dressed in a suit. Apparently even the guys have to tone down their wardrobe, because there is absolutely nothing special about the suit.

"What do you want?" I ask, a bit hostile.

Alec gives me a strange look, almost like he's surprised at my hostility. Apparently I'm supposed to be polite to vampires. Whatever. Am I supposed to be polite to someone whose probably the same as his witch-sister? I don't think so.

"Aro wants you and Adèle to be in the throne room in thirty minutes," Alec says. "Also, Aro would like to speak with Adèle privately later."

Somehow, I feel a slight chill when he mentions Adèle talking to Aro privately.

"Why? Is she in trouble?" I blurt out the words before I can think about them and try to cover for it with a look of indifference.

"None of your business, human," Alec says with an amused expression.

I narrow my eyes, then shut the door in his face.

I go back to my bed and start worrying about Adèle. Did I get her into any trouble? She's the only person I can talk to, as of right now, about anything. And my first friend at the castle.

Adèle comes out of the bathroom, looking beautiful as ever.

"Don't worry, Alexandra," She comforts me. "I'm sure Aro just wants to see how you're doing."

But a little worried crease in her forehead tells me otherwise.

"Well," She says in a cheerful voice to cover the silence. "We only have thirty minutes for makeup and hair. We better hurry!"

Makeup takes about ten minutes.

"You probably didn't know this," Adèle says smiling. "But I have an ability to manipulate air and wind. Hair styling is always quick and easy for me."

She's right. In less than five minutes, my hair in up in a tight twist and pinned with a clip made of titanium and covered in what I believe are sapphires and diamonds, pain-free and without a hair out of place.

"Wow," I say at my reflection. "Adèle, you have magic fingers."

"I know," Adèle gives me a warm grin.

"Adèle?" I ask tentatively. "Why does Aro want to throw such a huge party for us?"

Adèle hesitates.

"Aro wants to make sure that you and your sisters realize that you can't escape here. That when he shows you a room full of vampires, that you will stop fighting and being hostile to everyone here." Adèle finally answers.

"That's not true!" I protest. "I'm not hostile to anyone! I never even talked to anyone!"

"Oh, please," Adèle scoffs. "I heard you and Alec."

"Well… that's because of Jane." I say.

We're both quiet for a moment.

Adèle breaks the silence by ushering me out the door.

Someone has hung up silver ornaments everywhere, and there is purplish-black confetti on the ground.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Jo in a short, sleeveless dark green dress.

"Jo!" I call. "Jo!"

I rush towards her.

Adèle lets go of my arm and lets me run at my sister.

"Alex!" Jo says and hugs me. "I haven't seen you in hours! Where's Sam?"

"I don't know," I say as I hug Jo back.

Jo steps back to survey my dress.

"Ooh, that's pretty," She says.

I laugh. "Your dress is really pretty too, Jo."

Jo blushes. "Oh, by the way, this is my friend/stylist Miku. She's really nice."

A pretty dark-haired Japanese-looking girl behind Jo smiles at me. Her hair is short, feathery, and jet-black. She has a dark purple streak of hair on the left side of her face.

"Oh, Jo," I introduce Adèle, who is standing behind me. "This is Adèle."

Jo stares openly at Adèle. "I love your hair!"

Both Miku and Adèle laugh and I crack a smile.

"We should get to the throne room quickly," Adèle says.

"Don't want to make Aro mad." Miku agrees.

Adèle gives me a little push in the direction of the throne room and she and Miku chat behind me and Jo.

"How are you… dealing with all of this, Jo?" I ask tentatively. Even though Jo is one of my triplets, Sam and I look after her as if she is a few years younger than me. I expect her to break into tears, but she scowls.

"I'm not crying, Alex," She says, not looking at me. "It's over. Done. We can't do anything about it. That's what this party we're going to is about."

"I know," I reply.

We walk in silence the rest of the way.

And then, we're there.

_Artie POV: Volterra, Italy_

When Laelia and I enter the throne room, we are almost the first ones there. Only a few other vampires, including Jane, Alec, Aro, Marcus, Caius, and Kelsey are there. The throne room, without all of its guards, without the thrones, and covered in party decorations, looks huge.

Jane doesn't seem like the type of person to dress up for anything, but she's wearing a black dress that looks very much like her uniform cloak.

She glares at me and seems to be on the verge of attacking me when her brother (Alex? Or Alec?) grabs her arm a bit forcefully and whispers something in her ear and Jane gives me one last hateful look and stomps away. I swear her boots are leaving marks on the marble floor.

Her brother turns around for a split second and stares at me, then follows Jane's lead. I frown. He didn't even look apologetic, just… puzzled.

"Artemis, come here." Laelia calls. "Aro has assigned all of you humans to what he describes as a dance partner."

"What? But can't I dance with you?" I protest.

"No, Aro picked someone, probably male, as your escort. I have to go meet with Aro. I am not required to attend this party."

"Alright," I say, resigned. Apparently everything in this castle is already decided for me. It's no use trying to protest.

"Who do I have to pretend I like for the next few hours?"

Laelia spins me around and I see a tall, pretty hot, dirty blonde vampire that almost makes my mouth gape open. I compose my face and remind myself that all vampires look like that and I shouldn't have expected anything less.

"My name is Afton and I'll be your escort tonight," Afton says courteously.

I stare at him suspiciously.

"Why is everyone in the castle so polite and nice to me?" I ask. "I mean, it's not like I'm going to let my guard down any less, because I _know_ for a fact that any of you guys could kill me right now. Like what you did to Alex's parents."

I boldly stare straight into Afton's crimson eyes to demand an answer. To my surprise, he looks completely unabashed and manages a slight chuckle.

"Don't get too used to it," He says, taking my arm and guiding me to the front of the room, where Aro is about to speak.

"Afton, where have you been?" A incredibly stunning looking model-like vampire with long, lustrous, wavy blonde hair (with a few almost-black highlights), and what may be the most perfect figure in the world stands in front of Afton and me and stares accusingly at Afton. I can't help but notice that's she's ignored the so-called dress code and that she's wearing a gorgeous red backless dress that belongs on the red carpet.

A sigh escapes from Afton's lips and he nervously runs his fingers through his hair.

"Chelsea, babe, I already told you, Aro assigned me to be Artemis's escort for the night!" Afton explains.

"So you want to break up with me." Chelsea says and stares at Afton challengingly.

Wow. Someone has problems. I consider helping Afton explain for a second, but decide it would be smarter to shut up.

Chelsea turns and glares accusingly at me.

She says nothing, but I can feel that she's doing something to me, and I remember, from this morning, that she can manipulate relationship bonds.

"Chelsea, don't." Afton says firmly.

Chelsea and Afton lock in a glaring contest when, finally, Chelsea huffs off.

"What was that about?" I ask curiously.

"I just used my ability and she has nothing against you. She'll probably kill me for doing that, but its my job to make sure nothing and no one hurts you for the night." Afton says with a slight smile.

"No, I mean, why was Chelsea so…" I trail off.

"Paranoid?" Afton supplies, then smiles. "She's my girlfriend, as of right now. Except vampires call that mates. A few centuries ago, I broke up with her and started dating this other vampire, Katherine, and now whenever she sees me talking to another girl, she goes nuts. She's definitely not happy I'm supposed to dance with you."

Afton seems nice enough. In the future, he'll be on my list of acquaintances, while Chelsea will not. Too bad he has a girlfriend, although I did hear how he specifically said "girlfriend _as of right now_." I instantly feel ashamed. It's not the time to be thinking of things like that.

Afton grins widely at me and I stare at him suspiciously.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing. Listen to Aro now." He says and avoids looking at me.

"I called you all here today to welcome the newest members of our guard." Aro is up on the stage, with Caius and Marcus sitting behind him and six female vampires, including Laelia, watching him by the curtains.

Afton leads me up to the stage. Alex, Sam, Jo, Afro, and Ena, are going up the stage too, all accompanied by various male vampires.

Alec is with an emotionless Alex (I bet she's really mad at Aro for pairing her up with him), Ena's happily with Demetri, who looks a bit cheerful, too, and Sam's with Felix, who looks a bit uncomfortable.

I don't recognize the other two vampires. The Spanish-looking one is with Afro, and the nerdy one is with Jo. Almost everyone looks happy. I almost run and hug my sisters, but I restrain myself.

"They will be treated as members of the guard, even whilst in human form." Aro looks around the room threateningly. "If any of you cannot control yourselves, I will deal with you personally."

"Yes, master," The guard replies as one.

Suddenly, I can feel something in the air. Something- someone- is approaching. The room is silent and tense for a second and then chaos erupts.

"Escorts, bring the girls back to their rooms. Guard, stay with me. We have a few… friends to deal with." Aro says, clasping his hands together.

Afton picks me up and starts running at lightning speed towards my room. Everything around me is a blur.

When I get into my room, he stands by the door, looking very alert.

"Afton?" I ask, confused, and still dizzy. "What's going on?"

"The Romanians are here," Afton says vaguely.

Okay…

"So… who are the Romanians?" I ask.

"The Volturi's enemies," Afton says, keeping his eyes on the hallway. "Millennia ago, the Romanians were rulers of the vampire world. Then, Aro defeated them. They must've heard that Aro had six new, very valuable, guard members."

"So… Aro's basically the king of all vampires? With Marcus and Caius, right?" I ask.

"That's right. The Romanians have been trying to overthrow us for centuries. If they captured you, the first thing they would do is turn you into a vampire. And you're not ready yet." Afton says.

Half a second later, two burly vampires crash through my door and attack Afton.

In five seconds, they are reduced to a heap of body parts. My eyes widen. Kelsey slides into the room not a second after.

"Sorry if I'm a little late," She says, not looking sorry at all. She takes the remains of the other vampires and leaves.

"I think you're safe now," Afton flashes me a dazzling smile but his eyes look worried. "Alec and Demetri must've gotten the worst of it. They're in the first rooms."

The Volturi have enemies that attack them like this? I thought they were all-powerful and were friends with everyone. How many vampires could there be in the world anyways?

After an hour of sitting in my room, wondering desperately if my sisters are alright, Afton tells me to wait in my room while he checks what's going on.

"Alec!" Afton yells. I can hear him even from here. "Alec everyone's safe right?"

"Afton, they sent forty guys after me. I knocked out the ones in front of me, but one got behind me and went straight through the wall, and there were about fifty backup vampires behind the wall. Alexandra's gone." Alec says bitterly.

"What?" Afton says, sounding just as shocked as I am. "Alec, you can't be serious. A human gone, on your watch?"

And Alec is gone.

Suddenly, a chill runs up my back. Alex is probably being tortured right now. What about my sisters?

When I step outside, everything is blurry and purplish. The air smells like really, thick, heavy perfume.

"Afton!" I say and run up to him. "Alex is really gone? What are they doing to her? Are my sisters okay?"

"Artemis," Afton says calmly. "You have to understand, they sent five times the vampires we expected. I-"

My eyes widen in horror. One of my sisters is being tortured, too.

"Who?" I ask, trembling.

"Artemis, Athena's gone."

**Hey, not a bad ending. Do you think that the Romanians are going to change Alex and Ena into vampires? Do you think that Alec and Demetri are going to save them in time? Share your thoughts my commenting!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Bonus! This chapter, I'm gonna include a look into the heads of Sam, Jo, Ena, and Afro! See what they've been thinking about, too! **

**Disclaimer: I only own the triplets.**

**Fire**

_Alex POV: Not in Italy Anymore_

The last thing I remembered was Alec shoving me into the room just in time for about fifty vampires crashing through the wall. In a few seconds, all of them are senseless, but Alec misses three that are behind him. They grab me and crash through the wall. The last thing I see before they knock me out is another fifty vampires outside the castle.

When I wake up, I'm in some sort of cell, probably underground. My head hurts. A lot.

A very Dracula-looking vampire unlocks the door and walks in.

"Hello, human. My name is Vladimir." The vampire says. "You smell quite pleasant. If I weren't keeping you for the army, you would make an excellent snack."

I look around the stark white cell and see two beds, a small table, two foldable chairs, a sink, and a little room in the corner I assume is a toilet. I am sitting on one of the beds, and I am surprised to see that Athena is unconscious on the other bed.

"Who are you? Where am I? What are you going to do to me? Where's Alec?" I demand.

"Calm down, human. You are in Romania. We have captured you from the Volturi. You will be kept human for a little while while you answer our questions… then Stefan will have the privilege of making you part of our army." Vladimir explains.

'What? No-let me out of here!" I exclaim, panicked. So they got past Alec.

"I'm afraid that can't be done." Vladimir says and exits the cell. Five strong-looking vampires appear and stand outside the cell, watching me.

Ugh. I stare outside the room, which looks like it's been built like a zoo exhibit. Instead of bars, like a normal cell, the room has a glass wall where the guards are watching us.

I slip off the bed and realize that I am now wearing silk pajamas instead of the evening gown I wore to the party.

I walk over to Ena's bed.

"Ena… wake up!" I shake her until her eyes open.

"Alex?" She sits up, then groans and feels her head. "Ow… my head hurts. Wait… where are we?"

"Ena, the Romanians caught us. Apparently Alec and Demetri were stupid enough to let them escape." I say, my face hardening.

"What?" Ena looks around, dazed. "It would be really hard to get out of here."

"Oh yeah, I forgot. You can tell what to do in every situation." I say, smiling. "Too bad the guards will hear everything."

"I have to use the bathroom," Ena says and stands up abruptly.

I look at her quizzically but she gives a pointed look at the guards, who are all very bored-looking and leaning their backs on the glass wall.

I nod, smiling. Then, with a single choreographed move, I skip around for a second then trip on nothing and fall flat on my face. The guards all look alert and stare at me for a second, then see that I'm not injured and go back to leaning on the wall and listening for anything suspicious.

Ena has already slipped into the bathroom but I know I have to distract them more. I walk over to the foldable chairs and sit. A few seconds later, I try to move the chair forward a little, but, nonchalantly, as I grab the bottom of the seat to pick it up, I cut my finger on the sharp metal edge. Blood oozes out.

I keep a straight face as I walk toward the guards. Their eyes widen at the smell of my blood. I walk closer as the guards back away, trying to control themselves.

"I need a band-aid!" I yell.

Immediately, all the guards leave, scrambling up the stairs to get help.

Ena slips out of the bathroom.

"Good. I was almost certain they would hear the scratching." She whispers. "Go in the bathroom."

I go into the bathroom and look at the metallic walls. Ena has used her fingernails to scratch a message. I wince and feel my own nails self-consciously. That must've hurt.

"Don't give them answers," I whisper. "Don't help them."

I remember what Vladimir had said about interrogation.

Then, I read the last sentence on the wall.

"They're gonna save us."

I almost doubt that. Only Aro would care enough to save us. Adèle might care too, but there were probably hundreds of vampires guarding this place.

As soon as I exit the bathroom, I realize something's wrong. Ena is nowhere to be seen.

A huge vampire comes out of nowhere and grabs both of my arms.

"Master wants you, human. Interrogation."

"No! Where's Ena!" I yell.

I search around the castle for an offensive power I can "borrow," but there are none. Vladimir knows that I am powerless.

"The other human knew to behave." The vampire growls. "I might have to teach you a lesson."

Ena went obediently? She always knows how to handle everything. I bow my head down and begin walking.

"Good human," The guard laughs.

Ugh. I feel like a dog.

We go up stairs and through corridors for twenty minutes until we reach a plain, unmarked door.

The guard shoves me in, and shuts the door.

The room looks very much like how I would imagine a mad scientist's lab to be like. It's very metallic and some very evil-looking devices are lined up everywhere. In the middle of the room, there is a white carpet with three white leather chairs and a table on it.

Vladimir sits on one side of the table, and Ena on the other. Vladimir motions for me to sit next to Ena. As soon as I take a seat, metal rings chain my wrists and legs to the chair. I try to move, but the seat is attached to the ground.

Ena shoots me a look that says _remember what I told you_.

I nod slightly then stare at Vladimir.

"Now, ladies, there is no reason to fear me." Vladimir begins. "I just need you to answer a few questions."

Ena's eyes narrow.

"Now, I understand that humans have needs, like sleeping and eating food." Vladimir says. "You must be hungry."

Now that he mentions it, I _am_ hungry. I haven't eaten since… well a day ago. More than a day ago. I guess I've been so busy worrying that I hadn't realized that I was hungry.

"Just answer my questions and we'll give you food," Vladimir says with an evil chuckle.

"We won't talk!" I say. "We can just starve to death."

Ena's eyes widen.

"Yes, sir, we will answer whatever you want." She says, trembling.

"What? Ena!" I exclaim, shocked.

"Your friend is right," Vladimir continues. "See, if you try to kill yourself, we will have to change you. Into vampires."

Suddenly he stops, and stares down at my finger. I look down in confusion and realize that my finger is no longer bleeding but it still has a fresh cut.

"I'll only ask a few questions," Vladimir smiles a fake smile.

"Hurry up," I say through clenched teeth.

"Don't lie." Vladimir warns. "I can hear if you lie. How many vampires are in my old friend Aro's guard?"

"Four hundred and thirty five," Ena says quietly. "Jo told me."

I look at her quizzically. Surely there weren't as many when we ambushed them two days ago.

"Human, why do you look confused?" Vladimir asks, as if he cares.

"They never come out all at once." Ena whispers.

Oh. I can tell Ena wanted to keep that as an unnecessary detail.

"Are the rest of the guard very closely attached to Aro?" Vladimir asks.

"Um... yeah? I guess?" I reply nervously.

"How many of the unknown guard are there?" Vladimir asks, smiling evilly.

I hesitate. This is Aro's secret. But what do I care for Aro? I suppose since he _is_ probably coming to save us.

Ena looks sickly pale and is about to give the exact answer, which she no doubt knows, when I blurt out,

"I don't know,"

Ena frowns, but doesn't contradict me.

"Very well." Vladimir looks troubled but stands up and heads toward the door. He presses about twenty buttons on a colorful keypad, and the door opens at the same time as my wrists are freed. I realize that my ankles are still tied to the chair, but I shake my hands in joy. They are red and have the print of the steel bands on them.

"Your food will come soon," Vladimir says.

"Wait! What time is it?" I call, but he is already gone.

"When are they going to save us?" I whisper to myself.

Ena just looks down and says,

"I hope it's soon. Vladimir is going to do something bad to us. I can feel it."

In about two seconds, a pretty red haired vampire comes into the room with a three trays-one in each hands and one balanced on her head!

My eyes widen and I choke back a laugh.

"Hello! My name's Kat and I'll be your server today!" She giggles and twirls around. "Wow, you guys smell good but Stefan says I'm not allowed to eat you."

Even Ena looks taken aback by Kat.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. But I'm only about twenty years old and-" Kat's eyes widen and she looks extremely apologetic.

"You're twenty years old?" The words come out before I can stop them. "Not that it's my business."

I look down, expecting her to go super-angry.

"Yeah! Stefan changed me himself four years ago. I'm a really young vampire, but I can control myself." Kat says, looking very excited.

As if to prove her controlled-ness, Kat sets down the three huge trays, puts her hands together and bows, then says,

"Bon appétit, human-sans!" She giggles. "Stefan says I'm not allowed to talk to you, but I think that's mean. Ooh, Vladimir's giving me my bag of blood soon! Bye!"

She skips out of the room.

"Wow… she was really… energetic?" I say. "I thought all vampires were like, dead."

All of a sudden, the smell from the trays wafts towards me and I start drooling. Ena and I reach for the trays and start opening every box and bottle.

"Wow." I say. "So how should we split this?"

"Count everything and divide it," She says. "Quickly. I'm hungry."

I count two sodas, one dish of spaghetti Bolognese, a large piece of lasagna, a bowl of chicken noodle soup, ten sushis in a case, a slice of chocolate cake, and a slice of apple pie.

"Um… I call the Coke, spaghetti, sushi, and pie." I say.

"Works for me. I like Sprite and cake over Coke and pie." Ena says and we dig in.

And for a few minutes, I forget we're in captivity.

* * *

_Artie's POV: Volterra, Italy_

I had a sleepless night. It should've been me captured. Poor Ena, she'll never find her way out and the Romanians will torture her and-

"Don't think about Athena," Afton chides me.

"Ena." I correct, then angrily shout, "She's my sister! How could I forget about her?"

"Artemis, you know that Alec-" Afton explains.

"Call me Artie. I hate when people call me Artemis. Not that I hate the name, it's just so formal." I cut him off again.

"Alright, _Artie_, you and Aphrodite should just-" Afton gets interrupted a third time.

"Afro." I correct.

"_Afro_?" Afton looks a bit incredulous. "Are you referring to that ridiculous 80's hairstyle that Felix used to have?"

"_Felix_?" I ask, surprised. "Well Aphrodite, just like the real Aphrodite, was constantly obsessing over how she looked so Ena and I started calling her Afro. She hates the name."

"See?" Afton says, smiling gently. "You can still help yourself not think of your sister. She'll be fine, along with Alex."

"I don't know, Afton," I say tentatively. "I mean, I don't want to really point it out that much, but Demetri and Alec don't exactly even like Ena and Alex, and I'm not sure they would even try to get them back."

"Oh, Artemi-Artie, you're being-" Afton is cut off by a distant yell that I can't exactly make out.

"Oh, its lunch for the human!" Afton says cheerfully.

He takes my hand and I flinch slightly at the coldness.

"Artie, get used to it," Afton chuckles.

"So, Afton," I say with a half-smile. "You never did tell me how you became one."

"I'm one of the younger vampires in the known guard," He stares at me. I realize that his crimson eyes are much darker than yesterday. "And I'm not very used to restraint, especially when it comes to… food."

I took that as my cue to run. The scent of food is starting to make my mouth water, as I didn't eat in a day.

When I walk into the huge "makeshift" kitchen, I see that Sam, Jo, and Afro are already seated at the table. I sit tentatively next to Sam.

"How are you guys doing?" I ask quietly.

"Alright, I guess," Sam replies wearily. "I'm just hungry."

I stare at the small, sort of chubby vampire who is cooking something on the stove and in the ovens.

She walks over with four glasses of water, four plates, and four spoons.

"I'm almost done cooking," She says then walks off.

"That's Sabina," Jo explains. "She loves cooking, even though she's a vampire, and she would've been cooking today even if we weren't here."

I'm about to question the weirdness of that, but then two more vampires walk into the kitchen. One is very petite, with large eyes and long black hair tied into a braid that reaches the middle of her back and is tied by a light purple flower. The other is a few inches taller, with a French braid tied by a yellow flower.

" _Ceux-ci__ doivent__ être__ des__ humains__.__Emilie__,__ pouvez-vous leur__ dire bonjour de ma part?"_ The smaller vampire says in something that sounds like French.

I turn around and look at the others, puzzled. All of them we reflections of my face.

"My name is Emilía. You may call me Emily," The taller vampire says in slight French accent. "This is Annebelle."

Annebelle perks up and at the sound of her name and nods.

"Annebelle is just a few years old, and she can only speak French. She wants to say hello." Emily says.

Annebelle smiles a winning smile and she waves her hand.

"Yes. Hello," She says in a heavy French accent. "_Bonjour_,"

Annebelle turns back to Emily and whispers to her in French,

"_Vous avez eu raison. Ils délicieuse odeur. Je ne peux pas croire Aro nous interdire de boire leur sang_," Annebelle sighs.

"Whoa," I whisper to my sister and my friends. "Did she just say something about a 'delicious odor'?"

"She thinks we smell tasty," Jo rolls her eyes. "But I don't think she'll touch us because of Aro."

Sabina starts to walk toward us, pushing a LOT of food on a cart. First, she puts a whole roasted chicken in the middle of the table, and then she gives out several smaller dishes, like soup and vegetables.

It's delicious, but during the entire meal, I can't really concentrate, because Annebelle and Emily are whispering things and staring at us the entire time.

In a little bit, all the food is gone, and Sabina brings out a huge cake.

I take a slice and start up some conversation.

"So," I say nonchalantly. "How were your escorts for the dance?"

Afro glares down at her plate, Sam looks into the distance dreamily, and Jo smiles blushes. Before I can get any of them to give me details, a petite French vampire who could've been Annebelle's twin storms into the kitchen, looking furious. I notice that her hair is in a French braid, tied with a dark purple, almost black, flower. She looks nowhere are nice as Annebelle, and she is scowling and leaving boot-prints on the ground. I realize that her cloak is slightly lighter than Annebelle's, too.

"Why does everyone wear cloaks around here? And who's that? Annebelle's twin?" Afro whispers.

"_Cousin, que fais-tu ici?_"' Annebelle asks then hides a bit behind Emily.

"_Emilie! Vous devez être m'aider, pas cette poubelle!_"' The girl yells.

"That's her cousin, not her twin," Jo explains. "They really don't like each other. Apparently something about some guy vampire in this castle."

"Yeah, I can tell they don't like each other!" I exclaim.

"_Mirabelle, calmez-vous!_" Emilía shouts.

"Her name's Mirabelle?" I ask Jo. "Isn't that really close to Annebelle?"

"Yeah, I guess," Jo says, watching intently.

"_S'il vous plaît, Mirabelle! Je suis désolé!_" Annebelle pleads.

"_Il est trop tard pour être désolé!_" Mirabelle screams.

"_S'il vous plaît, Mimi. Nous sommes cousins. Il ne faut pas se fâcher comme ça!_" Annebelle is now cowering on the ground.

"_Tu me dégoûtes._" Mirabelle scowls and glares at Annebelle.

"_Je vous remercie, mon cousin._" Annebelle stands up and trembles, refusing to look at Mirabelle.

Mirabelle glowers at Annebelle and starts toward her, fist in the air, when another French-looking vampire, this time male, dashes into the kitchen. Mirabelle automatically puts her fist down and smiles sweetly at him, batting her eyelashes.

The male vampire stares at us worriedly and says,

"Don't stare. You'll make her mad."

Automatically, we turn around and stare at each other across the table, eyes wide.

"_Qu'est-ce que tu fais là, Léon?_" Mirabelle says sweetly before glaring at Annebelle.

"Maybe we should go," Sam whispers.

"Good idea," I whisper back.

The four of us inch out of the room.

"Where do you want to go?" Afro asks.

"Where's our helpers? You know, the girls?" I ask.

"They'll be here in about…" Jo replies. "now."

Six female vampires rush towards us, including Laelia.

"Laelia!" I call. She smiles a bit and walks toward me.

"How are you doing?" She asks, concerned. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I guess," I say, looking down. "What was Aro talking to you guys about? My sister will be saved, right?"

"Alec and Demetri are on that," She says sweetly. I catch that she didn't answer my question, but I will bug her later.

We walk together towards my room.

"So I trust that you've met Annebelle and Mirabelle, right?" Laelia has a small smile flickering across her face.

"Yeah, and Emily," I say. "What's up between Annebelle and Mirabelle?"

"You mean Emília, right? I suppose she let you call her Emily. You see, her special vampire ability is that she can understand all languages and writing. Her real name is Emília, but that translates to Emily in English," Laelia explains. "And as for-"

"Does this mean that every vampire in this castle has an ability?" I ask, nervous.

"Well, no, honey," Laelia giggles at me like I'm being silly. "Felix doesn't. And you may not know this, but the castle has about fifty underground floors. They are only accessible by secret shafts. There are hundreds of vampires without abilities down there."

"Wow," is all I can think of saying. "Continue your story about Annie and Miri."

"Annie and Miri?" Laelia says and giggles, shocked. "Don't ever let them hear you nickname them. Léon is the only one allowed to call them anything that's not their real names."

"Ohh…" I say, piecing it together. "So Léon was the guy who ran into the room!"

"Centuries and centuries and centuries ago," Laelia starts her story. "Annebelle and Mirabelle were French aristocrats. Annabelle was actually quite poor until her uncle and guardian, a very handsome human, married Mirabelle's toadish but rich sister, Isabelle, which was very rare in those days. Mirabelle hated Annebelle, even back then. She was completely convinced that her new step-brother was here to steal all her money and take away her frivolous lifestyle."

"Wow," I murmur.

"Soon, something you may know as the French Revolution came along. Isabelle, Jean-Pierre, Mirabelle, and Annebelle were aristocrats who backed up the king and queen. Jean-Pierre, the only human Annebelle has ever felt hate towards, escaped without a trace, taking all of the money and leaving his family behind. Annebelle, Mirabelle, and Isabelle were sent to jail. Isabelle died within a few days of sickness, and 'Annie' and 'Miri' nearly died, too." Laelia continues. "Aro saved them. A century and a half later, they found Léon and changed him, and they've been fighting ever since."

We sit and stare at the bedding for a while.

"Laelia?" A beautifully musical whisper calls from outside. "It's me, Alexis."

Laelia frowns, but immediately puts on a plastic smile and motions for me to wait a second. She follows the willowy blonde out the door.

"Laelia… the human… Alec and Demetri… sister… tell her that… okay?" I hear.

Laelia comes back with a grim face.

"What? What is it?" I ask fearfully.

"It's Alec and Demetri." Laelia says softly. "Your sister is gone."

* * *

So here are the bonus points of views (they are all from the start of each section)

_Ena POV: Where am I_?

I am dreaming. My senses are telling me to wake up, but I am sleepy and I say _no_. I dream of a big, white, fluffy pillow that I can rest my head on, like the one in the castle. I am just about to lay down when my senses interrupt again. **Wake up! You are in danger!**_ Hush_, I say. _I want to sleep._ But my pillow disappears and I am falling. I fall into a green meadow. The flowers are so pretty! But when I try to pick one, a giant picks me up by the waist. **Wake up!** He shakes me.

"Ena... wake up!" I open my eyes and see a blurry Alex.

"Alex?" I ask, confused. **Sit up. Look around. **I sit up straight and groan. My head hurts. A lot. **Ask. Where are you?** "Wait... where are we?"

"Ena, the Romanians caught us. Apparently Alec and Demetri were stupid enough to let them escape." Alex says, looking a bit scary.

**What?**

"What?" I say, confused. **Tell her it's impossible to escape this box.** "It would be really hard to get out of here."

(As you can see, Ena's ability is more of a voice telling her what to do.)

_Afro POV: Why does Ena get all the attention?_

Ugh. After all this, Santiago still doesn't pay attention to me. Why does Ena get all the attention? Oh, Santiago's looking this way-

I'm Perfect Aphrodite again. Not Afro. That '80s do is so not attractive.

"Princess," Santiago says, acting dramatic again. He bows and motions for me to hold onto his arm.

"Toad," I retort in the same regal tone. "Hold on-"

I wave my fingers around a bit and imagine his face more handsome than it already is. To be honest, it isn't really easy. But in a few seconds, he's perfect-looking.

"Better." I say and walk off.

"Please, _princesa_," Santiago tries. "It is my job to protect you. If any _vampiros_ even touch you, I will be severely punished."

I roll my eyes and stomp towards him. Ugh.

(Afro likes things done her way, and she is very stubborn)

**DONT WORRY. IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER FAVORITE CHARACTERS, I WILL DO THEIR POINTS OF VIEW NEXT CHAPTER. **


End file.
